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Avery  Architectural  and  Fine  Arts  Library 
Gift  of  Seymour  B.  Durst  Old  York  Library 


Plate  XIV 


THE 

CIVIC   ANCESTRY 


OF 


New  York -City  and  State 


BY 

EDWARD    SEYMOUR  WILDE,  A.M. 


"  Time  brings  the  truth  to  light." — Prov. 


Published  by  the  Author 

at  the  Irving  Press,  121  East  31st  Street 

New  York 


CP 


Copyright  1913 

by 

Edward  Seymour  Wilde 


The  Author  certifies  that  this  publication  is 
limited  to  an  issue  of  two  hundred  and  ten 
copies ;  of  these  ten  are  specially  color  blazoned. 


TO    THE    NEW    YORK    HISTORICAL    SOCIETY 

NEW    YORK    CITY 

FROM    WHOSE    ARCHIVES    MUCH    OF    THE    MATERIAL 

HEREIN    HAS    BEEN    DRAWN 

AND    WITH    PLEASANT    RECOLLECTION    OF    THE 

COURTESY    SHOWN    HIM 

THIS    WORK    IS    INSCRIBED    BY    THE 

AUTHOR 


ILLUSTRATIONS    AND    CONTENTS 


Plate    XIV,  p.   53. 

[FRONTISPIECE] 


Color   blazon  Escutcheon  Clinton    Kamilv. 

"Clinton  (Duke  of  Newcastle  under-Lime).  Argent,  six 
crosses  crosslet  Jitch/e  sable,  three,  two,  and  one ;  on  a  chiej 
azure,  two  mullets  or,  pierced  gules. '^ — Burke's  General 
Armory. 

Much  time  and  labor  has  been  employed  by  the 
writer  in  the  discovery  of  these  Arms  as  shown  in 
Seal,  Plate  XIII,  p.  54.  It  is  doubtful  if  another 
impression  exists.  Used  in  1777  by  George  Clin- 
ton, Governor  of  the  State  of  New  York,  in  lieu 
of  a  Great  Seal  of  the  State,  not  yet  legislatively 
provided.  This  honorable  use  seems  to  entitle  it 
to  more  than  passing  notice.  Indeed,  this  Seal,  at 
least  quasi,  was  the  first  Great  Seal  of  the  State 
of  New  York,  and  was  thus  used  by  authority. 

Consult:  New  York  Genealogical  and  Biographical 
Record,  Vol.  12,  No.  4,  p.  195;  Vol.  13,  No.  i, 
p.  5,  and  foot  of  p.  10.  The  Book  of  Family 
Crests,  345.  Enc.  Brit.,  nth  Ed., under  Clinton. 
America  Heraldica,  Ed.  by  Vermont,  p.p.  26,  161 
(N.  Y.  Pub.  Lib.).  Gov.  Clinton  did  not  assume 
the  crest,  doubtless  he  did  not  consider  that  he 
was  entitled  to  such  use. 

Arms,  Seals  and  Medals;  Dutch,  English  and  American 
periods,  N.  Y.  City  and  State, — Page  15.  Painted  Arms, 
Seal  and  Signet,  "Amsterdam  in  New  Netherland "  ; 
Dutch  Period,  1609- 1664, — 16.  Dutch  Declaration  of 
Independence,  July  26,  1581;  William,  Count  of  Nassau, 
titular  Prince  of  Orange,  surnamed  the  Silent;  Parting  of  the 
ways, — 17.  Charles  V,  Luther,  Leo  X, — 18.  Three  arch 
bishoprics;  Egmont, — 19.  Council  of  Trent;  Calvin, 
Egmont  and  Horn, — 21.  Voltaire;  Prince  of  Orange, — 
22.  "The  Silent," — 23.  "I  will  maintain  ";  Assassins; 
The  Dutch  Republic, — 25.  City  of  Amsterdam;  Treaty 
of  Arras, — 26.  Zuider  Zee;  Medals  and  Medal-coin  of 
the  Netherlands;   Bizot;   Le  Clerc;   van  Loon,  —  27. 


The    Civic    Ancestry    of  New    York 


Plate  I,  p.   27. 


Plate   II,  p.  30. 


Medal  by  Pieter  van  Abeele,  seventeenth  century. 
The  Medal  shows  upon  the  obverse,  Count 
William  of  Henegouwen  and  Holland,  bestowing 
upon  Amsterdam  the  shield  still  borne  by  that 
City.  Above  a  door-way  appears  a  rudderless 
vessel,  the  former  Arms.  Upon  the  reverse  the 
Emperor  Maximilian  I,  authorizes  the  use  of  the 
Imperial  Crow'n  as  a  Crest.  There  is  some  con- 
fusion in  the  dates.      (See  Note,  p.  79.) 

Extracts  relating  to  this  medal, — 28-30. 

Medal-coin,  Obverse  as  of  Plate  I.  Reverse,  Arms 
of  Amsterdam,  complete,  gules,  on  a  pale  sable 
three  crosses  argent.      Crest,  Imperial  Crown. 

Plate   III,  p.  30.     Color-blazon,  as  Arms,  of  last  above. 

Spain  loses  Amsterdam  in  the  year  1578, — 31.  William 
Bardez  ;  The  United  Netherlands, — 32.  Dutch  West 
India  Company,  incorporated  June  3,  1621 — June  21, 
1623;   Province  of  New  Netherland,  —  33. 

Plate    IV,  p.  33.     Seal    of    the    Province    of    New   Netherland. 

Granted  by  States-General  in  1623. 

A  gtiy  repast  was  given  to  Governor  Stuyvesant  at  the  City 
Hall,  December  8,  1654,  when  "he  delivered  to  burgo- 
master Martin  Kregier  the  painted  Coat  of  Arms,  the  Seal, 
and  Silver  Signet  of  AVw  Amsterdam,"  —  34— 3 5- 

Plate  V,  p.  36.     Copy  of  Deed,  Abraham  Verplanck  to  The  Reverend 

Johannes  Megapolensis,  dated  January  21,  1656, 
certified  under  Seal  of  the  City  of  "Amsterdam 
in  New  Netherland."  [Unlike  the  English  form, 
the  Conveyance  was  signed  by  the  grantor  in  the  "protocol" 
and  a  certified  copy  thereof,  as  in  this  plate,  became  the  grantee's 
muniment  of  title.] 

Plate  VI,  p.   -^d.     The  Seal,  in  Plate  V,  enlarged. 

Plate  VII,  p.  37.     Color   blazon  Arms  as  in  Seal   Plate  VI. 

See  pp.  36-7-8.  The  insignia  g.W.c.  on  the  over- 
shield,  initial  the  words  Geoctroyeerde  West  Indische  Com- 
pagnie.      Privileged,  or  Chartered,  West  India  Company. 

—39- 


Illustrations    and    Contejits  9 

Plate  VIII,  p.  39.      Silver  Signet  of   December   8,   1654. 

Oloft'  Stcvensen  van  Cortlandt  and    his  daughter    Maria, 
widow  of  Jeremias  van  Rensselaer, — 39. 

Plate   IX,  p.  40.       Seal    ok    Amsterdam    in  "New"   Netherland, 

used  by  Burgomaster  Martin  Cregier  in  1659. 

Plate  X,  p.  41.      Seal  as  it  appears  on  Dutch  Resolutions.     See  p.  37. 

Plate  XI,  p.  41.  Title  page  to  the  Description  of  New  Nether- 
land, by  Adriaen  van  der  Donck,  LL.D. 
There  exists  grave  doubt  that  Dr.  van  der  Donck 
composed  this  title-page.  The  designer  of  the 
vignette  had  probably  seen  the  metal  die  sent 
over  in  the  ship  Peartree  in  1654.  He  got  the 
shield  right  but  blundered  on  the  crest,  turning 
the  beaver  the  wrong  way  but  just  as  it  appeared 
upon  the  die  itself. 

Plate    XII,    p.   44.      "Whereas    1    have    thought    fit    to    appoint    two 

Scales,"  p.  43.  At  this  time  James,  Duke  of 
York  and  Albany,  was,  by  patent  from  his  brother 
Charles  II,  Proprietor  of  the  territory  in  America 
formerly  known  as  New  Netherland.  By  com- 
mand of  the  Duke  the  Seals  to  be  made  use  of, 
the  one  by  the  Province  and  the  other  by  the  Cor- 
poration of  New  York,  were  sent  over  in  1669. 
The  Provincial  Seal  bore  the  Ducal  arms  with 
the  label,  the  ribbon  bearing  the  legend  Sigill- 
Provinc-Novi-Eborac  being  added.  This  was 
sixteen  years  before  James  became  King.  The 
force  that  this  Seal  should  have  now  can  be 
gathered  from  the  foregoing  statement.  At  any 
rate  it  does  not  seem  appropriate  to  place  it  prom- 
inently upon  a  public  building  in  this  country, 
especially  when  the  subsequent  career  of  James 
as  King  is  considered.  The  Crown  in  the  insignia 
of  New  York  was  "  defaced  "in  1778  and  1 784. 


lo  The    Civic    Ancestry    of  New    York 

Plate  XIII,   p.   54.     George   Clinton  Seal,  exact  size  and  enlarged. 

Plate  XIV.      Frontispiece. 

Plate  XV,  p.   55,     Arms  of  the  State  of  New  York,  enlarged  and 

disentangled  from  the  letter  "  T,"  in  the  Com- 
mission of  Andries  Wilson,  Gentleman,  Plate 
XVI.  This  Commission,  dated  April  2,  1778, 
was  signed  by  the  Governor  about  two  weeks 
subsequent  to  the  passage  of  the  Act  of  March 
16.  Compare  with  Plates  XIX,  XX,  XXI  and 
XXII. 

Plate   XVI,  p.   55.      Commission  of  Andries  Wilson,  showing  also 

Privy  Seal. 

Plate  XVII,  p.   56.     The  Great  Seal  of  the  State  of  New  York, 

"1777,"  and  its  origin. 

Plate  XVIII,  p.   56.     "  Frustra." 

Plate  XIX,  p.   57.     As  to  supporters  in  Plate  XV. 

Plate  XX,  p.   57.     As  to  featured  Sun,  water  and  rocks  in  Plate  XV, 

and  attempted  assassination  of  the  Prince  of 
Orange  in  1582. 

Plate  XXI,  p.   58.     As  to  origin  of  Crest  in  Plate  XV. 

Plate  XXII,  p.   58.     This   Plate   is   taken    from  "Beschryving   Der 

Nederlandsche  Historipenningen." — Gerard 

van  Loon.  [The  close  resemblance  to  Plate  XV,— the 
meadow,  water,  the  two  ships  and  the  featured  Sun, — renders 
identification  complete.] 

Plate  XXIII,  p.   59.     The  Great  Seal  of  the  State  of  New  York 

of  1798.  [This  is  the  Seal  that  should  have  appeared  upon 
the  mantel  under  the  portrait  of  Governor  George  Clinton  in  the 
Governors  Room,  New  York  City  Hall;  instead,  they  have 
placed  there  the  Great  Seal  of  1882,  Plate  XXV,  now  in  use.] 


Illustrations    and    Contents  ii 

Plate  XXIV,  p.  62,    The  Great  Seal  of  the  State  of  New  York 

of  1809. 

Passed  without  comment. 

Plate  XXV,  p.   62.     The  Great  Seal  of  the  State  of  New  York 

of  1882. 

Let  the  reader  judge. 

Plate  XXVI,  p.  63.     Paulding  Seals. 

This  very  interesting  collection,  contributed  by 
Mr.  Paulding,  is  in  the  possession  of  the  New 
York  Historical  Society.  These  impressions, 
made  with  the  several  metal  dies  in  question,  are 
cut  from  the  documents  they  authenticated,  and 
are  pasted  upon  a  sheet  of  paper.  The  writer  has 
been  unable  to  determine  the  date  of  this  valu- 
able contribution  to  the  archives  of  the  Society. 
Nos.  3  and  6  are  undoubtedly  by  the  same 
engraver — Mr.  Billings,  p.  64. 

Plate  XXVII,  p  66.     New  York   City    Seal,    "Sunk    in    Steel," 

IN   1814. 

Plate  XXVIII,  p.   67.     Seal  of  New  York  City  now  in  use. 

Plate    XXIX,  p.   67.     See    Appendix   B,    wherein    No.    5,    Paulding 

Seal,  Plate  XXVI,  is  discussed. 


THE    CIVIC    ANCESTRY    OF 
NEW    YORK 


To  answer  you,  says  Philander,  in  the  language  of  a  medallist,  you 
are  not  to  look  upon  a  cabinet  of  medals  as  a  treasure  of  money,  but  of 
knowledge;  nor  must  you  fancy  any  charms  in  gold,  but  in  the  figures  and 
inscriptions  that  adorn  it.  The  intrinsic  value  of  an  old  coin  does  not 
consist  in  its  metal,  but  its  erudition.  It  is  the  device  that  has  raised  the 
species,  so  that  at  present  an  as  or  an  obolus  may  carry  a  higher  price  than 
a  denarius  or  a  drachma ;  a  piece  of  money  that  was  not  worth  a  penny 
15  hundred  years  ago,  may  now  be  rated  at  50  crowns  or  perhaps  lOO 
gmneas.  Dialogues  upon  the  Usefulness  of  Ancient  Medals. — Addison. 

Numismatology  is  defined  as  the  science  of  coins  and  medals,  in  their 
relation  to  history.  — Webster. 


-T  is  not  proposed  that  this  narration  should  take  the 
[form  of  an  historical  essay  but  rather  that  of  a  lawyer's 
brief  of  the  facts  and  principles  relating  to  the  science 
'of  Arms,  Seals  and  Medals  in  their  relation  to  history, 
in  this  case  particularizing  the  various  insignia  arising  in  the  Dutch 
period,  the  English  period,  and  our  own  unfinished  period  of  the  history 
of  the  City  and  State  of  New  York. 

In  thus  specializing  a  very  interesting  subject,  this  attempt  to  add, 
however  little,  to  the  general  stock  of  knowledge  and  cultivation,  does  not, 
therefore,  involve  a  history  of  the  arbitrary  rule  of  the  Dutch  West  India 
Company,  1 623-1 664,  covering  the   greater  part  of  the   Dutch  period. 

I.  Initial  letter  taken  from  Emanuel  van  Meteren's  History  of  the  Netherlands,  in  which 
appeared  the  first  account  in  print  of  Hudson's  discovery  of  i6og.  Motley,  in  his  United  Nether- 
lands, Conclusion,  refers  to  this  writer  "  as  a  plain  Protestant  merchant  of  Antwerp  and  Amsterdam, 
who  wrote  an  admirable  history  of  the  war  and  of  his  own  times,  full  of  precious  details,  especially 
rich  in  statistics,  a  branch  of  science  which  he  almost  invented,  which  still  remains  as  one  of  the 
leading  authorities,  not  only  for  scholars,  but  for  the  general  reader." 


i6  The    Civic    Ancestry    of  New    York 

Neither  does  it  involve  the  proprietary  government  of  James,  Duke  of 
York,  nor  his  subsequent  short  but  changeful  career  as  King,  which  at 
that  time  went  far  to  put  the  taste  of  rebellion  in  the  mouths  of  most 
of  his  American  Colonial  subjects,  as  well  as  of  his  subjects  at  home. 
Neither  does  it  involve  the  momentary  and  but  partial  relief  in  the  reign 
of  Dutch  William  III,  with  scant  thanks  to  William;  nor  of  the  fantastic 
insolence  of  the  English  Cornburv;  nor  of  the  nearer  events  that  ripened 
into  the  Declaration  of  1776  which  resulted  in  the  final  overthrow  of 
an  almost  unbroken  misrule  of  more  than  160  years.  But  our  subject 
does  necessarily  cover  the  numismatology  relating  to  the  complete  term 
of  these  several  periods  down  to  the  present  time,  and  in  addition  thereto 
takes  us  back  to  the  year  1275  in  the  somewhat  clouded  accounts  of  the 
origin  of  the  seals  and  arms  of  the  parent  Amsterdam.  This  review  will 
enable  us  to  determine  the  heraldic  origin  of  the  "  painted  arms  and 
the  seal  together  with  the  signet  cut  in  silver  "  of  "Amsterdam  in  New 
Netherland "  which  were  received  by  the  Stuyvesant  personally  con- 
ducted city  government  in  1654  from  the  West  India  Company,  then 
the  owner  in   fee  of  Manhattan. 

New  York  was  horn  Dutch,  and  from  1609  to  1664  remained  Dutch. 
Following  the  discovery  of  1609,  under  the  auspices  of  the  Dutch  East 
India  Company — chartered  March  20,  1602 — and  up  to  1621,  no  serious 
attempt  had  been  made  to  utilize  the  new  possession  beyond  the  main- 
tenance of  possessory  rights  and  the  granting  by  the  States-General  of  a 
trading  license,  for  a  limited  period,  to  an  association  of  Dutch  merchants. 
This  instrument  bore  date  October  ii,  16 14,  and  conferred  an  exclusive 


The    Civic    Ancestry    of  New    Tork  ij 

right  to  trade  with  "  New  Netherland,"  now  for  the  first  time  so  desig- 
nated.'    This  privilege  expired  January  i,  1618. 

The  Half  Moon  had  sailed  from  Amsterdam  April  4,  1609.'  On  the  . 
ninth  of  the  same  month  a  truce  for  twelve  years  had  been  signed  at 
the  Town  Hall  at  Antwerp  between  the  States-General  of  Holland  and 
Spain.  At  this  time  the  Northern  Provinces  of  the  Netherlands,  which 
had  declared  independence  of  Spain  July  26,  1581/were  just  merging 
into  a  world  power  as  the  Dutch  Republic.  Charles  I  of  Spain  and  V 
of  the  Empire  had  abdicated  in  1555-6,  and  was  succeeded  in  Spain  by 
his  son,  Philip  II.  The  father,  whose  fruitless  endeavor  and  unsated 
ambition  led  to  his  retirement,  released  to  the  son,  not  only  the  kingdom 
and  the  inheritance  of  the  seventeen  provinces  of  the  Netherlands, 
together  with  the  balance  of  the  vast  territories  then  subject  to  Spain,  but 
also  his  own  greed  of  empire,  intensified  in  Philip  by  a  religious  bigotry 
that  led  to  the  intervention  in  the  Netherlands,  of  William,  Count  of 
Nassau,  titular  Prince  of  Orange,  surnamed  the  Silent,  who  became,  as 
the  champion  of  religious  freedom  and  of  the  maintenance  of  the  ancient 
charters,  the  Washington  of  that  day.  A  long  and  bloody  conflict 
ensued,  resulting  in  the  territorial  division  about  as  comprised  within 
the  United  Netherlands  of  Queen  Wilhelmina  and  the  Belgium  of  today. 

This  parting  of  the  ways  is  thus  epitomized  by  a  well-known  recent 

writer : 

By  the  Treaty  of  Arras  (January,  1579)  the  Southern  Provinces  bound  themselves  "to 
maintain  the  Roman  Catholic  religion,"  and  practically  to  submit  to  Philip.      And  in  the  same 

2.  Brodhead,  Hist.  State  of  N.  Y.,  I.  62. 

3.  Ibid.,  I.  24. 

4.  Ibid.,  I.  21;  Harrison,  William  the  Silent,  2r3. 


•i8  The    Civic    Ancestry    of   New    Tork 

month  the  Northern  Provinces — Guelderland,  Holland,  Zeeland,  Utrecht,  and  its  districts — 
formed  the  Union  of  Utrecht,  which  bound  them  to  promote  the  Protestant  creed,  and  prac- 
■  tically  to  abjure  allegiance  to  the  King.  Here  were  shattered  the  Pacification  of  Ghent,  the 
Perpetual  Edict,  and  the  Union  of  Brussels,  and  all  the  other  laborious  efforts  to  unite  Catholic 
and  Protestant  in  a  national  league.  The  Catholics  of  the  South  pledged  themselves  to  the  old 
Church;  the  Reformers  of  the  North  pledged  themselves  to  the  Protestant  cause;  and  both  to 
the  exclusion  of  the  other.  Yet  here  too,  in  the  dissolution  of  the  larger  confederation,  lay  the 
germs  of  the  future  history  of  the  Netherlands,  that  contrast  of  race,  religion,  language,  and 
institutions  which  to-day  we  see  in  Belgium  and  Holland. 

(Frederic  Harrison,  William  the  Silent,  Macmillan  &  Co.,  1907,  p.  202.) 

Charles  V,  grandson  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  was  born  at  Ghent, 
A.D.  1500.5  At  the  age  of  sixteen  he  became  King  of  Spain,  and  three 
years  later,  at  the  death  of  Maximilian  I,  he  was  elected  to  the  Imperial 
Crown  as  Charles  V. 

During  the  early  part  of  his  reign  the  seventeen  provinces  of  the 
Pays-Bas,  then  comprising  the  Netherlands,  were,  in  large  measure,  self- 
governing — the  old  charters  of  this  loose  confederacy  arose  in  the  nature 
of  common  law  or  usage,  and  for  a  time  were  so  respected  by  the  new 
over-lord.  Henry  VIII  of  England,  1509,  and  Francis  I  of  France, 
15  I  5,  were  at  this  time  just  beginnning  to  take  a  conspicuous  part  in  the 
history  of  the  Sixteenth  Century,  Luther  was  thirty-three,  and  had  just 
bid  defiance  to  the  Pope  at  the  gates  of  the  Castle  Church  at  Wittenberg, 
a  movement  which  Leo  X  affected  to  despise  and  neglect,  he  being 
abnormally  exhilarated  by  his  elevation  to  the  pontifical  throne  and 
absorbed  in  his  endeavors  to  verify  the  profane  expression  of  Pope 
Boniface  VIII,  made  two  hundred  years  before,  that  "the  Christian 
Religion  was  a  lucrative  fable."*      Respect  for  his  birthplace  and  affection 

5.  Motley,  Rise  Dutch  Republic,  I.  49;  Singleton,  The  World's  Great  Events,  III.  1230. 

6.  William  Cook  Taylor,  LL.D.,  etc..  Students'  Manual  Modern  Hist.,  London,  1858,  7th  ed.,  156. 

Motley,  R.  D.  R.,  I.  67;  Adrian  VI.,  Tope,  denounces  the  crimes  of  the  Church. 


The    Civic    Ancestry    of  New    Tork  19 

for  his  early  companions  led  Charles  to  govern  with  a  preference  that 
gave  umbrage  to  his  Spanish  and  German  subjects,  and  it  was  not  until 
some  time  afterward,  when  swayed  by  the  exigencies  of  a  varying  policy, 
that  he  issued  the  edict  against  heresy  in  the  Netherlands  in  1550.'  He 
then  claimed  an  uncompromising  purpose  to  suppress  religious  reform, 
but  his  acts  fell  short  of  his  decrees,  and  it  was  not  until  the  son  held  the 
reins  that  the  edict  was  renewed,  and  when  Philip  departed  for  Spain,  in 
1559,  he  showed  his  contempt  for  the  feelings  of  his  Belgian  subjects  in 
the  appointment  of  his  half-sister,  Margaret  of  Parma,  natural  daughter 
of  the   Emperor  Charles  V,  as  Regent. 

Up  to  this  time  there  were  only  four  bishoprics  in  the  Nether- 
lands— Arras,  Cambray,  Tourney  and  Utrecht — but  now,  1559-60, 
Philip  obtained  a  bull  from  Paul  IV  creating  three  arch  bishoprics, 
at  Mechlin,  Cambray  and  Utrecht,  and  fifteen  bishoprics  were  divided 
between  them.^  Granville,  soon  created  a  Cardinal,  was  designated 
to  be  Archbishop  of  Mechlin  and  Primate  of  the  Netherlands.  This 
created  dissatisfaction  with  both  Protestant  and  Catholic.  The  Prin- 
cipal Council  of  State,  with  the  Regent,  was  composed  of  Perronet, 
Bishop  of  Arras,  a  brother  of  the  Cardinal  ;  Berlaymont,  a  noble, 
and  Viglius,  a  lawyer,  agents  of  Philip,  with  Orange  and  Egmont,  as 
titular  members.^  Orange  and  Egmont  were  not  admitted  to  the  inner 
conclave,  but  for  a  time  their  influence  met  with  real  success.  The 
Spanish    troops    were    withdrawn,    the     Cardinal     went     into    retirement 

7.   Ibid.,  R.  D.  R.,  I.  129. 

S.  Ibid.,  I.  218. 

9.  Ibid.,  I.  173;  Harrison,  William  the  Silent,  26. 


20  The    Civic    Ancestry    of  New    York 

and  the  secret  Consulta  was  adjourned.      But  this  was   a   retreat  to  give 
space  for  a  more  deadly  spring,  and  the  way  was  prepared. 

The  Council  of  Trent,  which  met  in  1545,  so  codified  that  ingenious 
system  as  to  render  easy  reference  to  many  texts  which  justified  any 
method  of  diffusing  the  true  belief  or  exterminating  the  false.  "Accord- 
ingly, a  short  time  after  the  close  of  the  Council,  an  interview  took  place 
between  two  personages,  of  very  sinister  augury  for  the  Protestant  cause. 
Catherine  de  Medicis,  mother  of  the  Oueen  of  Spain,  and  the  Duke  of 
Alva  met  at  Bayonne  in  1565.  In  this  consultation  great  things  were 
discussed,  and  it  was  decided  by  the  wickedest  woman  and  the  harshest 
man  in  Europe  that  government  could  not  be  safe  nor  religion  honored 
unless  by  the  introduction  of  the  Inquisition  and  the  general  massacre 
of  heretics  in  every  land."'"  But  it  was  not  until  seven  years  later  that 
the  massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew  took  place. 

"  In  December  of  the  following  year,  Alva  received  his  commission 
from  Philip.  He  entered  Brussels  in  state  August  22,  1567,  with  an 
army  of  some  twenty-four  thousand  men,  consisting  of  about  nine  thou- 
sand Spanish  veterans,  twelve  hundred  troopers  from  Italy,  and  a  force  of 
German  mercenaries,  with  artillery,  engineers  and  six  thousand  horses — 
altogether  the  best  soldiers  and  equipment  in  Europe.  He  had  left 
Genoa  in  April,  and  in  three  months  achieved  the  long  and  difficult 
march  from  the  Mediterranean  to  Brabant.""  The  chief  was  a  consummate 
and  experienced  soldier  in   his  sixtieth  year,  an  arrogant  Spanish  Duke. 

10.  White,  i8  Christian  Centuries,  441. 

11.  Harrison,  W.  the  S.,  80;  Motley,  R.  D.  R.,  I.  537. 


The    Civic    Ancestry    of  New     York  21 

The  Regent  had  been  informed  of  his  coming  and  the  utmost  consterna- 
tion prevailed.  The  Duke,  as  his  master's  Viceroy,  became  practically 
master  of  the  land,  and  the  Reign  of  Terror  began — the  Council  of  Blood 
was  instituted.  Under  Luther,  and  the  other  Protestants,  the  Reforma- 
tion had  formed  into  two  great  divisions — the  Lutheran  and  the  Calvinist 
— who  hated  each  other  to  a  degree  inversely  to  the  smallness  of  their 
difference. "^  This  divergence  was  a  bar  to  concert  of  action.  The  Cal- 
vinists  were  probably  most  actively  partisan,  although  indeed  there  was 
little  to  choose;  while  the  Roman  Catholic  Hierarchy  insisted  upon  a 
Universal  Church,  for  this  brought  with  it  a  complete  revenue.  In 
Germany,  Luther  had  given  a  fatal  blow  to  this  insistment,  while  the 
Netherlands  were  divided;  the  Southern  portion  was  undoubtedly  Roman 
Catholic,  as  the  sequel  proved,  and  has  so  remained.  While  the  Luth- 
eran departure  had  made  great  headway  in  the  North,  the  followers  of 
Calvin  seem  to  have  been  most  belligerent  in  what  is  now  Belgium.  The 
Calvinists  were  offensive,  the  Lutherans  defensive.  Of  these  differences 
Alva  made  little  account.  His  path  had  been  marked  out.  His  business 
was  to  extirpate  heresy.  It  is  said  that  he  boasted,  on  his  resignation, 
that  he  had  put  to  death  eighteen  thousand  six  hundred  persons,  not 
counting  all  who  perished  in  fight,  storm,  siege  and  massacre. '^  Count 
Egmond  and  Admiral  Horn,  whom  the  warnings  of  William  the  Silent 
had  failed  to  convince  of  their  danger,  were  among  the  first  victims. 

This    partial    enforcement    of    the    edicts    under    the    Regent    was 
due    to    the    exertions    of    the    Prince    of    Orange,    who    lost    fortune, 

12.  White,  18  C.  C,  460. 

13.  Motley,  R.  D.  R.,  II.  146;  Ibid.,  I.  696. 


22  The    Civic    Ancestry    of  New    York 

many  friends  and  finally  life  itself  in  the  cause,  but  gained  an  imperish- 
able name. 

We  have  already  quoted  from  William  the  Silent  by  Frederic  Harri- 
son.    We  now  quote  the  first  words  of  this  prose  epic: 

"When  we  study  the  foundation  of  the  United  Provinces,"  says  a  great  French  writer, 
"  we  learn  how  a  State,  from  an  origin  almost  unnoticed,  rapidly  rose  into  greatness,  was  formed 
without  design,  and  in  the  end  belied  all  human  forecast.  Those  large  and  wealthy  provinces 
of  the  mainland  which  began  the  revolution — Brabant,  Flanders  and  Hainault — failed  to  achieve 
their  freedom.  In  the  meantime,  a  small  corner  of  Europe,  which  had  been  won  from  the  sea 
by  infinite  labor,  and  had  maintained  itself  by  its  herring-fishery,  rose  suddenly  to  be  a  formidable 
power,  held  its  own  against  Philip  II.,  despoiled  his  successors  of  almost  all  their  possessions  in 
the  East  Indies,  and  ended  by  taking  under  its  protection  the  monarchy  of  Spain." 

(Voltaire,  Essai  sur  les  Merurs,  Cap.   164.) 

"The  man  who  inspired,  founded,  and  made  possible  this  marvellous  development  was 
William,  Count  of  Nassau,  titular  Prince  of  Orange,  surnamed  the  Silent.  The  eloquent 
epigram  of  Voltaire  records  the  result  of  his  achievement.  His  career,  like  his  nature  and  his 
circumstances,  was  made  -up  of  anomalies  and  filled  with  complex  elements.  The  man  who 
organized  the  national  rebellion  of  Holland,  by  birch  a  German  count,  became  by  inheritance  a 
Flemish  magnate  and  a  sovereign  prince.  A  Lutheran  by  family,  he  was  brought  up  a  Catholic, 
and  died  a  Calvinist.  His  early  years  were  passed  as  a  soldier  and  minister  of  the  Empire,  as 
ambassador  and  lieutenant  of  the  King  of  Spain,  and  as  a  grandee  of  boundless  magnificence. 
Himself  the  mainspring  of  a  national  and  religious  insurrection,  his  best  energies  were  spent  in 
moderating  the  political  and  religious  passions  which  were  at  once  the  cause  and  the  result  of  the 
struggle.  Personally  a  devout  man,  he  professed  in  succession  all  the  three  great  forms  of 
Christian  belief,  whilst  steadily  opposing  all  that  was  extreme  and  all  that  was  violent  in  each. 
His  memory  is  still  passionately  cherished  in  his  adopted  fatherland:  first  as  the  founder  of  an 
illustrious  Commonwealth,  then  as  the  father  of  a  long  line  of  able  statesmen  and  ruling  princes, 
and  finally  as  a  martyr  to  the  cause  of  national  independence  and  liberty  of  conscience. 

William,  the  eldest  son  of  William,  Count  of  Nassau,  and  of  Juliana  of  Stolberg,  was 
born  in  the  hereditary  castle  of  Dillenburg,  in  Nassau,  on  the  25th  of  April,  1533,  the  eldest 
of  five  sons  and  seven  daughters.  By  birth  he  was,  through  many  generations,  of  pure  German 
race,  the  heir  of  one  of  the  smaller  ruling  houses  of  the  Empire,  a  House  which  had  produced 
many  chiefs  illustrious  in  war  and  in  council,  and  which  by  a  series  of  splendid  alliances  had 
amassed  titles,  offices,  and  vast  possessions  in  Germany,  in  the  Netherlands,  and  in  France. 
By  a  singular  fortune  the  boy  William,  then  aged  eleven,  was  named  by  the  will  of  his  cousin 
Rene,  dying  on  the  field  young  and  childless,  as  heir  to  the  immense  fiefs  of  the  Nassau  race  in 
the  Netherlands,  together  with  the  puny  State  of  Orange  on  the  Rhone,  and  the  barren  title  of 


The    Civic    Aticestry    of  Neiv    Tork  23 

sovereign  Prince  of  Orange.  From  his  twelfth  year  William  of  Nassau  bore  the  style  of  the 
petty  princedom  which  he  never  visited,  and  he  transmitted  the  titular  sovereignty  to  his 
descendants  down  to  our  own  times.  At  the  age  of  twenty-six,  William  became,  by  the  death 
of  his  father,  head  of  the  House  of  Nassau-Dillenburg,  the  possession  and  revenues  of  which 
he  transferred  to  his  brother  John.  Thus,  whilst  his  birth  was  as  noble  as  any  in  Europe, 
fortune  concentrated  on  him  a  singular  array  of  honors  and  of  estates.  By  his  four  marriages 
with  princely  and  royal  houses,  Flemish,  German,  or  French,  he  left  a  family  of  twelve  children, 
whose  descendants  filled  an  even  larger  part  in  the  annals  of  Europe  than  did  the  ancestors  of 
William  himself." 

The  Treaty  of  Cateau-Cambresis,  between  Henry  H  of  France  and 

Philip   II   of  Spain,  after  a  three  years'   war,  was    concluded    April    3d, 

1559,  and  the  Prince  was  selected  as  one  of  the  State  hostages  to  reside 

with  Henry,  in  order  to  guarantee  the  execution  of  the  treaty.     William 

went  to  Paris  in  June,  1559,  and  it  was  there  that  took  place  the  famous 

incident  which  won  him  the  name  of  The  Silent.     Mr.  Harrison  quotes 

the  story  from  the  Catholic  historian  Pontus  Payen,  as  follows : 

"  One  day,  during  a  stag-hunt  in  the  Bois  de  Vincennes,  Henry,  finding  himself  alone  with 
the  Prince,  began  to  speak  of  the  great  number  of  Protestant  sectaries  who,  during  the  late  war, 
had  increased  so  much  in  his  Kingdom  to  his  great  sorrow.  His  conscience,  said  the  King, 
would  not  be  easy  nor  his  realm  secure  until  he  could  see  it  purged  of  the  'accursed  vermin,' 
who  would  one  day  overthrow  his  government,  under  pretence  of  religion,  if  they  were  allowed 
to  get  the  upper  hand.  This  was  the  more  to  be  feared  since  some  of  the  chief  men  in  the 
Kingdom,  and  even  some  princes  of  the  blood,  were  on  their  side.  But  he  hoped  by  the  grace 
of  God  and  the  good  understanding  that  he  had  with  his  new  son,  the  King  of  Spain,  that  he 
would  soon  master  them.  The  King  talked  on  thus  to  Orange  in  the  full  conviction  that  he  was 
cognisant  of  the  secret  agreement  recently  made  with  the  Duke  of  Alva  for  the  extirpation  of 
heresy.  But  the  Prince,  subtle  and  adroit  as  he  was,  answered  the  good  King  in  such  a  way  as 
to  leave  him  still  under  the  impression  that  he,  the  Prince,  was  in  full  possession  of  the  scheme 
propounded  by  Alva;  and  under  this  belief  the  King  revealed  all  the  details  of  the  plan  arranged 
between  the  King  of  Spain  and  himself  for  the  rooting  out  and  rigorous  punishment  of  the 
heretics,  from  the  lowest  to  the  highest  rank,  and  in  this  service  the  Spanish  troops  were  to  be 
mainly  employed." 

Mr.  Harrison  adds  : 

"All  this  the  Prince  heard  without  a  word  and  without  moving  a  muscle.  This  incident 
not  only  gave  the  eloquent  Prince  his  paradoxical  name,  but  it  proved  a  great  epoch  in  his  life, — 


24  The    Civic    Ancestry    of  Neiv    York 

it  is  hardly  too  much  to  say  an  epoch  in  the  history  of  his  age."      Writing  more   than   twenty 
years  afterwards  in  his  Apology,^^  he  says  : — 

"  I  confess  that  I  was  deeply  moved  with  pity  for  all  the  worthy  people  who  were  thus 
devoted  to  slaughter,  and  for  the  country,  to  which  I  owed  so  much,  wherein  they  designed  to 
introduce  an  Inquisition  worse  and  more  cruel  than  that  of  Spain.  I  saw,  as  it  were,  nets 
spread  to  entrap  the  lords  of  the  land  as  well  as  the  people,  so  that  those  whom  the  Spaniards 
and  their  creatures  could  not  supplant  in  any  other  way,  might  by  this  device  fall  into  their 
hands.  It  was  enough  for  a  man  to  look  askance  at  an  image  to  be  condemned  to  the  stake. 
Seeing  all  this  (he  continues  in  his  impetuous  way)  I  confess  that  from  that  hour  I  resolved  with 
my  whole  soul  to  do  my  best  to  drive  this  Spanish  vermin  from  the  land ;  and  of  this  resolve  1 
have  never  repented,  but  believe  that  1,  my  comrades,  and  all  who  have  stood  with  us,  have 
done  a  worthy  deed,  fit  to  be  held  in  perpetual  honor." 

With  the  remark  that  Pontus  Payen  tells  the  story  almost  exactly  as 
did  Orange  himself,  this  further  quotation  is  made: 

The  Prince,  having  thus  wrung  his  secret  from  the  King,  maintained  his  composure  for 
two  or  three  days,  and  then  obtained  leave  to  make  a  journey  to  the  Netherlands  on  private 
business  of  importance.  No  sooner  had  he  reached  Brussels  than  he  explained  to  his  intimate 
friends  what  he  had  heard  in  the  Bois  dc  Vincennes,  giving  a  sinister  meaning  to  the  excellent 
purposes  of  the  two  Kings,  who  (he  said)  designed  to  exterminate  the  great  chiefs  so  as  to  fill 
their  own  treasuries  by  confiscations,  and  ultimately  to  set  up  an  absolute  tyranny  under  pretence 
of  extirpating  heresy.  And  when  he  left  the  city,  he  counselled  them  to  make  the  withdrawal 
of  the  Spanish  troops  a  formal  demand  in  the  States-General  about  to  be  held  at  Ghent. 

William  was  now  twenty-six.  He  was  too  powerful  a  noble  for 
Philip  to  antagonize,  yet  not  powerful  enough  to  defy  the  King.  Thus, 
for  a  time,  a  state  of  equilibrium  was  established.  Philip  understood 
perfectly  well  how  the  Prince  stood,'*  but  he  temporized,  appointed  him 
Governor  of  Holland,  Zealand  and  Utrecht,  and  took  his  departure  for 
Spain,  appointing  his  half-sister  Margaret,  Regent;  and  William  became 
nominally  a  member  of  her  Council,  as  has  already  been  stated.  Orange 
was  a  Catholic,  he  held  to  the  faith  in  which  he  had   been  brought  up  at 

14.  Harrison,  W.  the  S.,  2oS-2og. 

15.  Motley,  R.  D.  R.,  I.  1S2. 


The    Civic    Ancestry    of   New     York  25 

the  Court  of  Charles  V,  but  his  whole  soul  revolted  at  the  injustice  and 
barbarity  of  the  Inquisition.  He  was  possessed  of  an  enormous  fortune 
and  lived  becoming  his  rank.  Yet  all  this  he  put  in  jeopardy  for  the 
sake  of  the  poor  people  "who  allowed  themselves  to  be  burned."  It  was 
impossible  that  the  Prince  should  retain  the  religion  of  his  youth  —  the 
religion  of  the  Court.  His  sympathies,  after  the  revelation  of  Henry  II, 
soon  became  Protestant,  and  this  determined  his  subsequent  career.  He 
was  not  disheartened  by  defeat,  nor  did  he  ever  take  council  of  fear. 
He  was  never  conquered.  His  motto  "  I  will  maintain,"  was  supported 
to  the  end.  He  himself  wrote,  "  I  have  no  other  articles  to  propose 
save  that  religion,  reformed  according  to  the  Word  of  God,  should  be 
permitted ;  that  the  Commonwealth  should  be  restored  to  its  ancient 
liberty;  and,  to  that  end,  that  the  Spaniards  and  other  soldiery  should  be 
compelled  to  retire."'*  All  attempts  to  bribe  or  cajole'^  were  met  with 
the  same  answer,  the  three  conditions — free  life  for  the  Netherlands,  with 
liberty  of  worship,  their  old  charters,  and  no  Spanish  or  foreign  soldiery. 
Assassins,'^  instigated  by  Philip  and  the  Pope,  dogged  his  steps.  Seven 
attempts  were  made  upon  his  life — the  seventh  was  successful.  On  the 
loth  of  July,  1584,  he  was  murdered  in  his  house  at  Delph.'^  The 
mighty  struggle  of  his  life  was  ended  ;  but,  unconsciously,  he  had 
founded  a  great  world-power — the   Dutch   Republic. 

Having  quoted  the  first  words  of  Mr.  Harrison's  book,  we  close 
this  brief  sketch  with  the  last  words  : 


16.  Ibid.y  II.  127. 

17.  Ibid.,  11.356;  Ibid.,  11.620-621;  Ibid..  II.  375. 

iS.  Ibid.,  II.  58;  Ibid.,  II.  706:  Harrison,  \V.  the  S.,  157-15S,  222,  232. 

19.  Ibid.,  233;  Motley,  II.  716. 


26  The    Civic    Ancestry    of   New    York 

And  to-day  the  nation  which  William  founded  by  his  sweat  and  blood,  three  centuries 
ago,  is  flourishing  and  honoured ;  his  granddaughter  in  the  eleventh  degree  sits  on  the  throne 
of  Holland ;  the  blood  of  the  greatest  of  the  Nassaus  runs  in  the  veins  of  almost  every  royal 
house  in  Europe ;  and  amongst  his  descendants  may  be  counted  for  three  cen|nries  some  of  the 
most  valiant  soldiers  and  some  ot  the  ablest  chiefs  whose  deeds  adorn  the  history  of  Europe. ^° 

The  bloody  career  of  Alva  terminated  upon  his  disgraceful  retire- 
ment from  Amsterdam  early  in  November,  1573;"  his  appointed  suc- 
cessor, Don  Luis  de  Requesens  y  Cuiiiga,  assumed  command  at  Brussels 
on  the  29th  of  the  same  month."  In  turn  the  death  of  Requesens  in 
March,  1576,  gave  place  to  Don  John  of  Austria,'^  a  natural  son  of  the 
Emperor  Charles  V,  who,  dying  miserably  in  October,  1578,'^  appointed 
his  nephew,  Alexander  Farnese  of  Parma,  son  of  the  Duchess  Margaret 
of  Parma,  a  natural  daughter  of  Charles  V,  and  first  Regent  of  the 
Netherlands. 

Attention  is  now  directed  to  the  fortunes  of  the  City  of  Amsterdam 
in  Holland  during  and  prior  to  this  period.  In  the  early  stages  of  the 
movement  that  led  eventually  to  Dutch  independence,  the  City  of 
Amsterdam  had  remained  under  the  control  of  the  Spaniards,  but  during 
the  term  of  Don  John,  in  1578,  this  city,  perforce,  joined  the  revolu- 
tionists, from  which  time  her  rapid  growth  gave  proof  of  an  advantageous 
change/^ 

In  the  following  year  came  about  the  Treaty  of  Arras  and  the 
Union   of  Utrecht,  already  mentioned,  the  former,  covering  eventually 

20.  Harrison.  W.  the  S.,  243  Appendix,  245. 

21.  Motley,  R.  D.  R.,  II.  145. 

22.  Ibid.,  Ibid. 

23.  Ibid.,  II.  256,  330. 

24.  Ibid.,  II.  510. 

25.  Ibid.,  United  Netherlands,  chap.  xxii. 


I 

I— ( 


The    Civic    Ancestry    of  New    York  27 

the  ten  Southern  provinces,  Roman  Catholic  and  obedient ;  the  latter, 
the  seven  Northern  provinces,  Protestant — independent — the  Dutch 
Republic. 

Up  to  the  time  of  the  great  inroad  of  the  North  Sea  in  the  latter 
part  of  the  thirteenth  century,'^  by  which  the  Zuider  Zee  was  formed, 
Amsterdam  was  in  an  infant  state,  but  this  great  transformation  placed 
her  at  an  advantage  through  the  outlet  by  way  of  the  Texel,  and  thence 
sailed  the  Half-Moon  on  her  voyage  of  discovery  in  1609, 

The  medals  and  medal-coin  productions  of  the  United  Netherlands 
rival  in  scope,  variety  and  execution  those  of  any  other  nation,  ancient  or 
modern.  From  their  continuity  history  could  be  written.  Reproduc- 
tions by  the  engravers'  art  alone  and,  as  shown  in  the  works  thereon  or 
the  17th  and  i8th  centuries,  fall  far  short.  The  art  of  photography  has 
since  then  come  to  the  aid  of  the  illustrator.  Take  for  instance  the 
Abeele  medal  as  given  by  Bizot,  Le  Clerc  and  van  Loon,  admirable  as 
they  are,  cannot  compare  with  the  reproduction  we  have  had  the  good 
fortune  to  get  from  the  medal  itself  through  the  kindness  of  a  friend 
who  is  the  owner  of  one.  This  medal  deserves  to  be  the  first  of  the 
series  relating  to  the  periods  we  have  designated  at  the  beginning  of 
this  treatise. 

Plate    I. 

Abeele    Pieter    van    [Dutch].       Engraver    of   great    merit    who    lived    principally    at 

Amsterdam,  where  he  also  died,  circa  1677 His  works  date  from  1622-1677,  s""! 

are  usually  signed  PVA  when  not  in  full.  His  most  famous  production  is  the  medal  which 
commemorates  the  Granting  of  Arms  to  the   City  of  Amsterdam  in  1342   and  1488;  like  his 


26.  Ibid.,  R.  D.  R.,  I.  33. 


28  The    Civic    Ancestry    of  New    York' 

other  medals  .  .  .  .  it  is  of  repousse  work  and  chased,  the  two  sides  being  united  by  a  rim. 
— Biographical  Dictionary  of  Medallists,  compiled  by  L.  Forrer,  igo2. 

The  following  extracts,  relating  to  this  medal,  are  made  from  Dutch 
and  French  works,  with  translations  into  English  : 

I.  MEDALISCHE  HISTOIRE  DER  REPUBLYK  VAN  HOLLAND,  Etc. 
t' Amsterdam.        By     Pieter     Mortier,     Boekverkooper,     op     de     Vygen-dam,     m.dc.xc. 

History  of  Medals  of  the  Republic  of  Holland,  described  in  French  by  Mr.  Bizot, 
and  translated  from  that  tongue  into  Dutch,'"  not  inconsiderably  enlarged;  besides  all  the  medals 
relating  to  the  removal  of  His  Highness  to  England,  his  coronation,  etc.,  up  to  now,  placed  in 
their  proper  order — with  an  Appendix  of  the  Countships  created  in  honor  of  the  brave  heroes — 
Amsterdam,  Peter  Mortier,  Bookseller,  Vygen-dam,   1690. 

[/>•  35  ^"f"-^ 

This  medal  is  made  in  order  clearly  to  show  to  later  generations  the  origin  of  the 

New  Arms  of  Amsterdam  and  the  Imperial  Crown  above  t.  It  shows  on  one  side  Count  William 
of  Henegouwe  sitting  on  his  count's  throne,  who  is  making  a  present  to  the  regents  of 
Amsterdam  of  the  new  arms  of  Amsterdam,  consisting  of  a  red  field  with  a  black  pale  in  the 
center  upon  which  are  laid  three  crosses  of  silver.  Above  a  doorway  the  old  arms  are  seen — 
a  mastless    ship.'*      Underneath     appear     the     following    words:     "Comes    Wilhelmus     has 

PRESENTED  THESE  ARMS  TO  THE   CiTV   OF   AMSTERDAM   IN  THE   YEAR    I  342." 

On  these  arms  the  following  poem  has  been  written  :  "Since  William  Count  of  Hene- 
gouwen  and  Holland  in  order  to  rebuild  in  Holland  the  devastated  City  of  Amsterdam  had 
given  her  many  liberties  in  order  to  retrieve  her  fallen  powers  and  furnish  her  everywhere  with 
walls,  gates  and  canals  in  greater  degree  than  ever,  he  has  made  a  present  to  the  Amsterdammers 
of  three  cross  on  the  field  of  the  cities'  arms :  A  sign  that  he  has  freed  her  of  much  misery 
and  cross.  Then  the  restored  city  whose  glory  was  waning  saw  its  liberty  shine  with  golden 
rays  as  the  sun." — P.  Dubbels. 

On  the  other  side  there  is  seen  the  Emperor  Maximilian,  who  presents  to  the  Amster- 
dammers the  Imperial  Crown  above  the  arms  of  their  city  in  recognition  of  their  good  services 
which  they  had  rendered  to  him,  some  say,  without,  however,  being  certain,  that  this  Emperor 
was  short  thousands  of  florins  and  that  the  Regents  of  Amsterdam  lent  him  the  amount  he 
needed,  getting,  instead  of  payment,  this  Imperial  Crown  upon  their  arms.  Underneath  the 
following  words  are  found:  "  C/Iisar  Maximilianus  Coronam  Imperialem  Donavit  Amstelo- 
DAMO  1488." 

Relating  to  the  Crown,  one  has  the  following  verses  by  the  same  poet:  "  Here  is  seen 
Amsterdam  receiving  out   of  the  hands  of  the   Emperor   Maximilian    the  Imperial   Crown   in 


27.  There  is  a  copy  in  Dutch,  Rutgers  Col.  Lib. 

28.  Mastless,  seems  to  have  been  an  error. 


The    Civic    Ancestry    of   New     York  ii^ 

reward  of  her  services  rendered  in  these  parts  to  his  Majesty,  because  the  city  exerted  itself 
to  force  at  the  point  of  the  sword  the  towns  of  Woerden  and  Rotterdam  to  go  over  to  his 
side.  So  the  faithfulness  of  the  subjects  was  proven  to  their  Count  and  Country,  sealed  with 
their  blood  and  tears  gilded  by  their  own  hands.  Thus  Amsterdam,  whose  lions  never  sleep, 
obtained  the  Imperial  Crown  upon  the  Count's  Arms." — P.  Dubbeh. 

II.  HISTOIRE  METALLIQUE  DES  XVII  PROVINCES  DES  PAYS-BAS, 
Depuis  l' abdication  de  Charles-Quint,  jusqu'  a  La  Paix  de  Bade  en  mdccxvi. 
Traduite  du  Hollandois  de  Monsieur  Gerard  van  Loon.'^  Tome  Premier  \p.  250.] 
A  la  Have mdccxxxii. 

Metallic  History  of  the  i  7  Provinces  of  the  Netherlands.  From  the  abdication  of 
Charles  V  until  the  Peace  of  Baden  in  1716.      Translated  from  the  Dutch  of  Mr.  Gerard  van 

Loon.      First  Volume.      The  Hague '732. 

.  .  .  .  This  City,  which  is  mentioned  for  the  first  time  in  a  Privilege  of  the  Count  Florent, 
dated  the  fifth  day  of  the  year  1275,  this  city,  I  say,  formerly  had  as  Arms  a  Vessel  without  a 
rudder,  and  was  then  subject  to  the  Lords  of  Amstel. 

In  the  year  1342  she  fell  under  the  power  of  William,  Count  of  Holland,  who  honored 
her  with  several  Prerogatives,  and  gave  her  new  Arms,  to  wit,  gules,  on  a  pale  sable  three 
crosses  argent.  Although  this  city,  in  her  beginnings,  was  but  a  settlement  of  some  poor  fisher- 
men, her  advantageous  situation  soon  attracted  to  her  a  large  trade  which,  in  a  short  time,  caused 
her  to  grow  in  wealth  and  power.  From  time  to  time  she  was  the  recipient  of  marked  favors 
from  the  Sovereigns  of  the  Country  because  of  the  support  she  was  in  a  position  to  lend  to 
their  affairs. 

In  return  for  the  services  which  she  had  rendered  to  the  Emperor  Maximilian  in  the 
reduction  of  Rotterdam  of  Woerden  and  of  the  Castle  of  the  latter  place,  she  received  from 
him,  on  the  10th  of  February,  1481,  (8)  letters  patent,  according  her  the  privilege  of  assuming 
the  Imperial  Crown  as  a  Crest;  a  lasting  mark  of  the  good  will  of  this  Prince. 

The  gift  of  these  new  Arms  and  the  privilege  of  using  the  Imperial  Crown  as  a  Crest 
are  eternized  by  the  following  Medal 

In  the  distance  there  appears  above  a  vaulted  archway  the  ancient  Arms  of  the  City.  In 
the  foreground  the  Count  William  seated  on  a  throne  gives  to  the  Magistrates  of  Amsterdam, 
at  the  hands  of  the  Herald-at-Arms  of  the  Province,  the  new  Shield  of  which  we  have  spoken. 

The  Count  William  has  made  cift  of  these  Arms  to  Amsterdam  in  the   year  i  ^42. 

The  reverse,  which,  like  the  obverse,  is  surrounded  by  a  Civic  wreath,  represents  the 
Emperor  Maximilian  L,  surrounded  by  his  guards  and  holding  the  Imperial  Crown  above  the 
Shield  of  Amsterdam  which  is  being  held  before  him  by  the  Magistrates  of  the  City 

The  Emperor  Maximilian  has  given  to  Amsterdam  the  Imperial  Crown  in  the 
YEAR  1488. 


29.   B.  Leyde  (16S3)  lived  in  eighteenth  century.     Die.  Biog.  Ref.,  Phillips. 


30  The    Civic    Ancestry    of  New    Tork 

III.  HISTOIRE  DES  PROVINCES-UNIES  DES  PAYS-BAS,  Par  Mr.  Le 
Clerc,  Depuis  la  Naissance  de  la  Republique  jusqu'  a  la  Paix  d' Utrecht  &  le  Traite  de  la 
Barriere  conclu  en  1716.  Avec  Les  Principales  Medailles  et  Leur  Explication.  Tome 
Premier,  Qui  contient  ce  qui  s'  y  est  passe  depuis  1'  An  mdlx,  jusqu'  a  1'  An  mocxviii.  A. 
Amsterdam,  Chez  Z.  Chatelain,  Libraire. 

MDCCXXVIII. 

History  of  the  United  Provinces  of  the  Netherlands.  By  Mr.  LeClcrc.  From 
the  Birth  of  the  Republic  until  the  Peace  of  Utrecht  and  the  Treaty  of  La  Barriere  concluded 
in  1 7 16.  With  the  Principal  Medals  and  their  Description.  Volume  I.  Which  contains 
that  which  has  passed  from  the  year  1560  to  the  year  1618.  Amsterdam.  Z.  Chatelain, 
Bookseller,  1728. 

Plate  II.      Color  blazon,  Plate  III. 
Extract  and  translation,  from  Vol.  4,  43. 

Fortune,  however,  was  not  so  contrary  to  the  Confederates  that  she  did  not  sometimes 
declare  herself  in  their  favor.  One  of  the  most  advantageous  events  that  happened  to  them 
in  the  year  1578  was  that  they  made  themselves  masters  of  the  city  of  Amsterdam,  which  had 
always  been  on  the  side  of  the  Spaniards.  The  arms  of  this  city,  which  are  gold^  a  red  pale, 
charged  v/ith  three  silver  crosses,  and  crested  with  an  Imperial  Crown,   as  is  seen  here  on 

plate  LXVII Mark  the  consideration  in  which  the  city  was  held,  as  appears  by  that 

act  of  concession;  as  narrated  by  Isaac  Pontanus  and  Pierre  Berthius,  it  seems  that  an  error 
was  made  in  placing  on  the  Medal  1488.* 


30.  Maximilian  I.  Born  March  22,  I45q;  died  at  NVels,  upper  Austria,  January  12,  1 519.  Emperor 
of  the  Holy  Rom.  Emp.,  1493-1519.  Son  of  Frederick  IIL  Married  Mary,  daughter  of 
Charles  the  Bold,  of  Burgundy,  in  1477.     Was  elected  King  of  the  liomans  in  14S6. 

New  Intnl.  Encv.  and  Ency.  Brit.,  nth  Ed. 

While  Mr.  Le  Clerc  has,  with  propriety,  criticised  the  placing  of  the  figures  1488  upon  the  medal, 
he  has  himself  fallen  into  an  error  in  describing  the  colors  in  the  reverse;  which,  fortunately, 
has  been  corrected  by  the  engraver.  This  is  a  medal,  not  a  seal,  and  it  is  therefore  proper 
to  indicate  the  colors. 

We  will  venture  a  technical  explanation  why  the  engraver  was  right.  In  order  to  do  this  it 
becomes  necessary  to  define  some  of  the  rudiments  of  the  science  of  Heraldry. 

Hugh  Clark,  in  his  Introduction  to  Heraldry — any  one  of  the  many  editions,  London,  gives  two 
Tables,  among  others,  which  will  answer  this  purpose.     See  Appendix  A. 

In  Table  II,  "  or -gold"  and  "argent-silver"  indicate  the  two  metals  used  in  Heraldry;  the  rest 
are  colors.  It  is  a  law  of  Heraldry  that  when  the  escutcheon.  Table  I.,  is  a  metal,  a  first 
charge  upon  it  must  be  a  color;  and,  if  this  again  is  charged,  a  metal  should  be  used.  In 
other  words,  a  metal  cannot  be  placed  directly  upon  a  metal,  or  color  upon  color. 

In  correspondence  with  Mr.  Veder,  Archivist  of  Amsterdam,  this  question  was  discussed;  the 
writer  observing  that  in  the  Arms  of  the  City  of  Amsterdam,  a  black  pale  comes  directly  upon 


Plate  n 


EXPLICATION   HISTORIQIIE  DES  MEDAILLES 


The    Civic    Ancestry    of  New    York  31 

THIS  MEDAL,  the  obverse  of  which  is  divided  into  two  parts,  represents,  in  the  first 
part,  the  grant  which  was  made  to  the  city  of  these  arms,  in  the  year  1342,  by  William,  Count 
of  Hainaut  and  of  Holland,  in  these  words: 

Comes  Wilhelmus  Hoc  Insione  Amstelodamo  Dedit  1342;  and,  in  the  second  part, 
the  ceremony  of  the  gift  by  the  Emperor  of  the  Imperial  Crown: 

CitsAR  Maximilianus  Coronam  Impositam  Donavit  Amstelodamo. 

The  number  xl,  which  is  in  the  inscription  of  the  reverse,  marks  the  value  of  this  coin 
at  the  time  of  the  siege  of  Amsterdam  [i  576-1  578].  Don  John  died  in  the  month  of  October 
of  the  same  year  [1578]  and  had  as  successor  Alexander  Farnese,  Prince  of  Parma,  son  of 
Ottavio  Farnese  and  Margaret  of  Austria,  who  had  been  Regent^'  of  the  Netherlands. 

Return  to  II,  p.  29,  Histoire  Medallique  Des  XVII  Provences, 
etc.     Gerard  van  Loon,  and  read  translation  from  Vol.  I.,  248. 

This  victory  of  Don  John  [at  Gemblours]  caused  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  Spaniards 
the  Cities  of  Louvain,''-  Tirlemont,  Diest,  Gemblours,  Aerschot,  Judoigne,  and  several  other  ' 
places  of  less  importance.  But  this  loss  was  offset,  in  a  way,  by  the  Accord  concluded  on 
February  8th,  by  the  States  of  Holland,  through  the  mediation  of  the  States  of  Utrecht,  with 
the  States  of  Amsterdam,  the  latter  having  until  then  been  'on  the  Spanish  side.  In  order  to 
reduce  this  city  under  the  Government  of  the  Prince  of  Orange,'''  it  had  not  only  been 
subjected  to  a  blockade  from  a  distance  for  a  long  time,  but  in  the  beginning  of  that  year 
[1578]  she  had  been  so  closely  beleaguered  that  it  was  impossible  to  carry  any  provisions  to  the 


a  red  shield,  adding  that  he  supposed  time  had  given  sanction  to  this  error.     With  this  Mr. 
Veder  agreed. 

In  Table  I,  the  points  of  the  escutcheon  are  given.  In  Table  IV,  the  Pale  is  an  honorable 
ordinary,  consisting  of  two  perpendicular  lines  drawn  from  the  top  to  the  base  of  the  shield, 
and  contains  the  third  middle  part  of  the  field.  Saltire.  This  is  an  ordinary  which  is 
formed  by  the  bend  dexter  and  the  bend  sinister  crossing  each  other  in  the  centre  in  acute 
angles,  which,  uncharged,  contains  the  fifth,  and  charged  the  third  part  of  the  field. 

— Dictionary  of  Terms. 

In  note  to  21,  Saltire  is  similarly  given,  but  is  defined  as  crossing  at  right  angles.  Upon  a 
square  shield  this  would  be  possible,  but  as  shields  are  generally  greater  in  size  perpendicu- 
larly than  in  width,  the  ac/z/c' angles  would  obtain.  .\  Cross  is  formed  by  perpendicular  and 
horizontal  lines  crossing  at  right  angles,  and  may  or  may  not  extend  to  the  limits  of  the 
shield.  Not  so  in  a  Saltire,  which,  by  its  definition,  must  extend  to  the  limits  of  the  shield, 
unless  otherwise  described.  The  otherwise  would  obtain  when  not  extending  to  the  limits  of 
the  shield,  and  would  then  be  defined  as  couped,  that  is,  cut  off  at  the  ends,  no  matter  what 
the  angles,  and  would  then  be  termed  a  cross  Saltire.  .\s  a  general  distinction  a  cross  is 
shown  thus  +,  and  a  cross  Saltire  thus  X. 

Referring  to  the  XL  upon  the  reverse  as  indicating  the  value  of  this  coin,  forty  sols,  see  foot 
note  34. 

31.  Motley,  R.  D.  R.,  I.  172;  419,  gueux. 

32.  Ibid..  II.  479. 

33.  Ibid.,  II.  480. 


32  The    Civic    Ancestry    of  New    Tork 

besieged  without  the  permission  of  the  besiegers.  In  this  way  the  city  had  soon  been  reduced 
to  the  last  extremity  and  finally  compelled  to  submit  to  the  Accord  just  mentioned  by  me.  In 
order  to  cover  the  necessary  expenditures  during  the  blockade  the  people  of  Amsterdam  had,  by 
special  letters  written  in  the  name  of  the  King,  obtained  permission  to  borrow  money  upon 
interest.  But  these  sums  proved  insufficient  for  their  needs,  which,  by  the  length  of  the  siege, 
were  from  day  to  day  rendered  greater  and  more  pressing.  In  this  urgent  necessity  the  Magis- 
trate had,  on  the  6th  day  of  December  of  the  previous  year,  caused  a  silver  Image  of  St. 
Nicholas,  honored  as  a  patron  saint  of  the  City,  to  be  melted.  This  piece  weighed  fifty-three 
marks  and  had  cost  two  hundred  francs  to  make,  which,  altogether,  constituted  a  rather  consid- 
erable amount  according  to  the  rate  of  exchange  of  silver  at  that  time,  when  a  gold  ducat, 
which  at  present  is  worth  more  than  one  hundred  sols,  was  worth  only  forty-eight  sols. 

Of  this  melted  silver,  in  the  month  of  August  of  the  following  year,  four  different  kinds 
of  necessity  coins  were  struck  of  five,  ten,  twenty  and  forty  sols'**  respectively.  On  the  third 
of  February  the  value  of  these  pieces  was  raised  by  a  fifth,  so  that  those  which  had  been  worth 
only  forty  sols  then  passed  for  fifty  sols,  and  the  other  pieces  in  proportion.  Moreover,  in  order 
to  insure  their  being  received  at  that  rate  by  commerce,  the  Magistrate  promised  to  exchange 
them  at  the  same  price  within  the  space  of  one  year. 

On  p.  249  these  coins  are  given  in  order. 

The  "  Accord  "  of  February  8th  gave  the  Patriots  nominal  posses- 
sion of  Amsterdam,  yet  the  magistracy  remained  Roman  Catholic,  and 
fears  were  entertained  that  this  would  lead  to  treachery  on  their  part. 
Arrangement  was  consequently  made  to  depose  these  city  fathers,  which 
was  successfully  brought  about  under  the  leadership  of  William  Bardez.^^ 
Thus  the  tables  were  "  turned  forever  in  the  capital  of  Holland,  and  the 
Reformation  was  an  established  fact  throughout  that  little  province."^* 

In  conformity  with  this  change  of  government  and  religion,  the 
seven   Northern    Provinces   attained  a   "  marvellous    development," — so 


34.  See  conclusion  of  foot  note  30,  referring  to  this  coin  at  the  time  of  the  siege  of  Amsterdam; 

showing,  on  the  reverse,  the  Arms  of  Amsterdam  correctly  engraved. 

35.  Motley,  II.  481;  487,  4S8.     See  interesting  picture  of  the  Expulsion  from  Amsterdam,  Vol.  II., 

Commelin,  1072.     Trans.  Inscrip.,  The  picture  shows  how  the  magistrates  and  churchmen 
of  the  City  of  Amsterdam  were  conducted  on  the  ship  on  the  26  of  May,  1578. 

36.  Motley,  R.  D.  R.,  II.  489. 


Plate  IV 


> 


/* 


The    Civic    Ancestry    of  New    Tork  33 

characterized    by    Frederic    Harrison    upon    quoting    from  the    brilliant 
Essay  of  Voltaire. 

The  Dutch  East  India  Company  was  chartered  March  20,  1602,  by 
the  States-General  of  the  United  Provinces,  and  at  the  expiration  of  the 
twelve  year  truce-'  with  Spain  in  1621  the  West  India  Company  was 
likewise  incorporated,  June  3,  1621 — June  21,  1623.  It  was  in  this 
latter  year  that  "New  Netherland,"  comprising  the  territory  in  America 
of  the  Dutch  claim  under  the  discovery  of  1609,  ^^s  erected  into  a 
Province  and  granted  a  seal,  by  the  States-General.^^ 

Plate   IV. 

A  photograph  of  this  seal  was  made  in  the  State  Library  prior  to 
March  29,  191 1,  when  the  original  was  destroyed  in  the  State  House  fire 
of  that  date,  of  which  the  foregoing  is  a  reproduction  : 

This  Seal  can  be  described  only  as  a  Seal,  in  some  such  way  as  this  : 

On  a  Shield  a  beaver  in  bend,  with  a  border  charged  with  fifteen 
line-connected  things,  possibly  pieces  of  Indian  wampum,  all  partly 
surrounded  by  a  narrow  twisted  cord  terminating  at  the  crest,  and  by  the 
motto  SiGiLLUM  Novi  Belgii. 

Crest,  a  Count's  Coronet  between  single  stars.  The  whole  fully 
inclosed  by  a  foliated  rim  defining  the  seal. 


37.  Ibid.,  United  Neth.,  chap,  lii;  April  9,  i6og. 
3S.   Brodhead,  H.  S.  N.  Y.,  I.  14S. 


34  The    Civic    Ancestry    of  New    York 

By  removing  the  outer  rim,  the  motto  and  the  twisted  cord,  the 
remainder  would  constitute  the  Arms  of  the  Province, 

A  Seal  is  used  only  to  make  an  impression  upon  wax  or  paper  and 
of  course  has  no  colors.  Arms,  upon  the  other  hand,  are  expressed  in 
metals  and  colors.^'  There  is,  at  this  late  day,  no  means  of  determining 
what  colors  should  be  used  in  blazoning  the  New  Netherland  Arms. 
The  only  course  to  pursue  is  to  refrain  from  the  use  of  color  or  metal  in 
this  instance. 

The  steps  taken  in  the  settlement  of  "Amsterdam  in  New  Nether- 
land "  by  the  Dutch  cannot  be  traced  here,  we  are  concerned  only  with 
the  insignia. 

In  the  History  of  the  State  of  New  York,  by  John  Romeyn 
Brodhead,  First  Ed.,  Harper  &  Bros.,  N.  Y.,  1859,  vol.  I,  148,  reference 
is  made  to  the  Seal  of  the  Province  of  New  Netherland,  and  on  page 
596  it  is  stated  that  upon  a  proposed  visit  by  Governor  Stuyvesant  to 
the  West  Indies  for  the  purpose  of  establishing  a  trade  with  those  islands, 
"A  gay  repast  was  given  to  him  at  the  City  Hall,  where  he  delivered  to 
the  presiding  burgomaster,  Martin  Kregier,*°  the  painted   Coat  of  Arms, 


39.  See  foot  note  30. 

40.  In   this    connection    Mr.  van    Laer,   under   date  of    June  I,    1909,    kindly  furnished  the  writer 

with  the  following,  which  may  be  of  interest  to  a  Dutch  reader: 

There  is  a  reference  to  these  Arms  in  a  paragraph  which  appears  between  two  statements  regard- 
ing the  election  of  new  magistrates  for  the  city.  The  translation  of  the  entry  is  in  7:an  der 
Kemp,  9:298;  but  I  shall  here  quote  the  original  and  then  append  my  own  translation: 

"Vorder  is  door  den  H'-  C'-  aen  de  presideerende  burgerm'-  martin  Crigier  overgelevert  het 
geschilderde  en  het  segel  wapen  deser  steede  N:  amsterdam,  neffens  't  singnet  gcsneden  In 
silver,  door  de  E.  Heeren  bewinthebberen  met  het  schip  de  peereboom  gesonden,  aldus 
gedaen  Jnt  fort  amsterdam  Jn  nieu  Nederlant  adij   S  decemb.  @.  .   1634:-' 


The    Civic    Ancestry    of  Neiv     York  35 

the  Seal,  and  the  Silver  Signet  of  New  Amsterdam,  which  had  just 
been  received  from  the  directors  in  Holland."  This  was  on  Decem- 
ber 8,  1654.  The  Coat  of  Arms  has  been  lost,  and  with  it  all  certain 
knowledge  of  the  color  blazon.  The  writer  has  had  the  great  good 
fortune  to  find  wax  impressions  of  the  Seal   and  of  the  Silver  Signet. 


Translation — Further,  the  Hon.  Cleneral  delivered  to  the  presiding  burgomaster,  Martin  Crigier, 
the  painted  arms  and  the  seal  of  this  city  of  Xew  Amsterdam,  together  with  the  signet  cut 
in  silver,  sent  by  the  Hon.  Directors  in  the  ship  the  Peartree.  Thus  done  in  Fort  .\mster- 
dam,  in  New  Netherland,  this  day  the  8th  of  December,  1654. 

The  other  references  to  van  der  Kemp.  4.:I36;  S:gS;  and  4:151,  correspond  to  N.  Y.  Col.  Mss., 
12:3,  6,  and  9,  for  the  originals.  The  items  to  which  O'Callaghan  has  reference  read  as 
follows: 

12:3 — "Ten  vierden,  is  by  ons  goet  gevonden,  dat  voorde  Stat  Xieu  Amsterdam  een  Zegel  sal 
werden  beraemt  ende  ouergesonden." 

Translation — Fourth,  we  have  decided  that  a  Seal  for  the  City  of  New  Amsterdam  shall  be  pre- 
pared and  sent  over. 

12:6 — Extracts  from  letter  of  Burgomaster  and  Schepens  of  New  Amsterdam  to  Directors  of  the 
West  India  Company,  with  reply.  May  iS,  1654.  Pray  for  authority  to  acknowledge  deeds, 
etc.,  and  request: 

"dat  dien  volgens  hun  toegesonden  magh  worden,  een  Stadts  Zegel,  verscheijde  van  landts 
Zegel." 

Translation — That  therefore  a  city  seal  may  be  sent  to  them,  different  from  the  seal  of  the 
province. 

Answer:  "Tot  het  maecken  van  een  Stadts  Zegel  is  ordre  gegeven." — Order  has  been  given  for 
making  a  city  seal. 

12:9 — Letter  from  the  Directors  to  Stuyvesant,  July  30,  1654: 

"  Onse  laeste  missive  (mettet  schip  de  peereboom  ouer  11  a  12  dagen  Zee  genomen).  .  .  ." 
— Our  last  letter  (sent  by  the  ship  Peartree,  which  put  to  sea  more  than  11  or  12  days  ago). 

As  to  the  original  impression  of  the  city  seal,  mentioned  by  O'Callaghan  in  Doc.  Hist.  3:397, 
I  have  again  e.xamined  our  volumes  of  correspondence,  from  1654  to  1664,  for  any  letter 
from  the  Burgomaster  and  Schepens  bearing  this  seal.  I  have  not  found  any  such  impres- 
sion. It  is  quite  possible  that  O'Callaghan  found  the  impression  among  other  papers  than 
those  which  are  at  present  in  this  office,  or  else  that  the  particular  document  has  disappeared, 
as  several  papers  in  the  Secretary  of  State's  office  have  done. 

It  may,  perhaps,  be  of  interest  to  you  to  know  that  Van  der  Donck's  Beschryvinge  van  Nieuw- 
Nederlant,  printed  in  1656,  shows  on  the  title-page  the  arms  of  the  city  of  New  Amsterdam. 
The  design  is  in  a  general  way  like  that  in  the  Documentary  History:  but  the  beaver  faces 
the  other  way,  the  mantling  varies  and  the  inscription  is  omitted.  O'Callaghan  is  undoubt- 
edly wrong  in  his  blazon  of  the  shield. 


36  The    Civic    Ancestry    of   New     Tork 

The  document  upon  which  the  seal  was  found  by  the  writer 
appears  in 

Plate  V.      An   enlargement  of  the   Seal   in   Plate  VI. 

Dr.  W.  R.  Veder,  Archivist  of  Amsterdam,  Holland,  at  the  writer's 
request,  made  a  translation  of  this  very  interesting  document,  and  at  Mr. 
Veder's  suggestion  his  translation  was  submitted  to  Mr.  A.  J.  F.  van 
Laer,  State  Archivist,  Albany,  New  York,  who  very  kindly  undertook  a 

revision,  and  as  thus  perfected  is  given  as  follows  : 

We,  the  underwritten,  Schepens  of  the  city  of  Amsterdam  in  New  Netherland, 
declare  hereby  that  before  us  came  and  appeared  Abraham  verplanck,  citizen  and  inhabitant  of  this 
city,  who  declared  that  he  conveyed  and  made  over  to  and  for  the  behoof  of  the  Reverend 
Johannes  Megapolensis,  minister  ot  the  Holy  Gospel  here,  a  certain  lot  lying  within  this  afore- 
said city,  on  the  north  side  of  Fort  Amsterdam  and  on  the  west  side  of  the  public  highway, 
bounded  on  the  south  side  by  the  lot  sold  and  transferred  by  the  said  grantor  to  Dirck  bensich 
and  by  the  latter  to  the  aforesaid  Domine  Johannes  Megapolensis,  on  the  east  side  by  the  common 
highway,  on  the  north  side  by  the  lot  of  Jannetin  sabyns,  and  on  the  west  side  by  the  river; 
being  in  width,  in  front  along  the  road,  four  rods,  three  feet  and  one  and  one-half  inches,  and 
in  the  rear,  on  the  west  side,  four  rods  and  ten  and  one-half  feet;  in  length,  on  the  north  side, 
twelve  rods  and  four  feet,  and  on  the  south  side,  nine  rods  and  five  feet,  according  to  the 
measurement  taken  by  the  court  messenger  on  the  21st.  ot  August  last  past,  and  this  by  virtue  of 
a  deed  of  conveyance  from  Jacob  jacobsz  Rooy  to  the  aforesaid  Abraham  verplanck,  under  date 
of  the  13th.  of  August  1649,  according  to  the  patent  granted  on  the  3d.  of  July  1643;  which 
aforesaid  lot,  he,  Abraham  verplanck,  declared  that  he  conveyed  and  transferred  to  the  said 
Domine  Johannes  Megapolensis  in  true  and  lawful  ownership,  with  all  such  claims,  right  and 
title  as  he,  the  grantor,  has  exercised,  enjoyed  and  possessed  over  and  to  the  same,  and  desisting 
therefore  from  all  claims,  rights  and  pretence  of  ownership  which  by  him,  the  grantor,  or  by 
any  one  in  his  name,  might  be  asserted  to  or  upon  the  said  lot,  as  he  acknowledges  that  he  has 
been  fully  compensated  and  paid  therefor,  promising  also  that  he  will  free  the  said  lot  from  all 
opposition  and  claims  which  might  be  brought  for!h  against  it  by  any  one  (except  however  the 
lord's  right),  declaring  furthermore  that  he  will  keep,  hold  as  binding  and  irrevocable,  fulfil  and 
execute  this,  his  deed  and  conveyance,  under  the  pledges  provided  by  law.  In  testimony 
whereof,  the  original  hereof,  entered  in  the  protocol  at  the  office  of  the  secretary  of  this  city, 
has  been  signed  by  the  grantor  Abraham  verplanck  together  with  the  Honorable  Schepens  Jacob 
Strijckcr  and  jan  vingc,  this  21st.  of  January  1656,  at  Amsterdam  in  New  Netherland,  and  the 
present  instrument  is  confirmed  by  the  city's  seal  hereto  affixed. 

(  )  Agrees  with  the  protocol  aforesaid. 

I  S  Jacob  Kip,  Secretary. 

Inscription  : — Sigillum   Amstelodamensis   in   Novo   Belgio. 
[Actual  size  of  the  above  seal  i  ^  inches  diameter.] 


M 


l5^^>' 


J 


<i 


•^y>^jw>cy 


cA2 


5^ 


5^ 


■^1 


^^ 


^r^ 


.  *  ^^^ 


\j 


1 

^ 


Plate  VI 


.H^^'^ 


The    Civic    Ancestry    of   New    York  37 

Plate  VTT. 

The  writer  offers  the  accompanying  color  blazon  of  the  Arms 
of  this  seal,  giving  such  reasons  for  it  as  may  or  may  not  be  satis- 
factory to  whoever  should  be  better  versed. 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  name  of  the  city  was  "  Amsterdam  in  New 
Netherland."  By  inspection  it  is  settled  that  these  Arms  did  not  have 
Supporters  ;  it  also  appears  that,  as  to  the  shield,  it  differed  only  from  that 
of  the  parent  ^Amsterdam  by  the  addition  of  a  line  on  each  side  of  the  pale. 
The  question  then  arises,  What  do  these  lines  mean?  There  are  many 
examples  in  the  books  where  the  engraver,  prior  to  1654,  has  added 
these  lines  in  the  shield  of  old  Amsterdam,  filling  in  the  space  between 
the  lines  and  the  pale  with  dots  to  indicate  a  medal — gold.  This  was 
done  without  warrant,  but  evidently  in  an  attempt  to  correct  the  false 
Heraldry.  In  preparing  the  above  seal  the  engraver,  in  Holland, 
probably  sought  to  correct  and  did  correct  the  error  of  three  centuries 
and  so  avoided  placing  color  upon  color.  As  the  lines  of  the  shield  of 
old  Amsterdam  were  so  closely  followed  why  then  not  the  principal 
colors  as  well  !  Indeed,  there  has  been  no  change  in  the  colors  in  the 
shield  of  Amsterdam  (Holland),  they  still  remain  as  shown  in  Plate  III, 
a  black  pale  charged  with  three  silver  crosses,  upon  a  red  field.  A  change 
has  been  made  in  the  shape  of  the  crown  forming  the  Crest,  but  with  this 
we  have  nothing  to  do. 

There  is  another  mistake  that  should  be  mentioned.  It  came  about 
in  a  very  singular  wav.     Some  time  prior  to  the  accidental  discovery  by  the 


38  The    Civic    Ancestry    of  New    York 

writer  of  the  Verplanck  paper  in  the  Archives  of  the  New  York  Historical 
Society  fruitless  inquiry  had  been  made,  especially  of  Mr.  Veder  and 
Mr.  van  Laer.  In  a  letter  to  Mr.  Veder  his  attention  was  drawn  to  the 
engraving  upon  the  title  page  of  van  der  Donck's  New  Netherland  as  the 
only  known  representation  of  the  seal  in  this  country,  Mr.  Veder  knew  of 
no  other.  Mr.  van  Laer  could  afford  no  additional  information.  And  so 
it  happened  that  the  beautifully  engrossed  copy  of  the  Resolutions  of  the 
Dutch  Committee  of  the  Hudson-Fulton  Tercentenary  celebration  in 
New  York,  shows  the  Arms  of  Amsterdam  in  New  Netherland  with 
supporters  and  the  beaver  Crest  turned  the  wrong  way.  In  Amsterdam 
they  knew  only  the  erroneous  van  der  Donck  cut  and  proceeded  to 
amplify  it,  as  shown  in  the  "  Resolutions,"  now  exhibited  in  the  rooms 
of  the  New  York  Historical  Society.  This  incident  is  mentioned,  not  to 
criticise  the  work  of  the  Amsterdam  Committee,  only  to  correct  an 
inadvertent  mistake. 

As  to  the  crosses  upon  the  pale  : 

There  can  be  no  doubt  they  were  silver,  quite  properly  laid  upon 
the  black  pale.  The  question  of  their  description  is  discussed  in 
foot  note  30. 

Following  what  has  been  said,  a  reading  of  the  color  blazon  may  be 
framed  thus : 

Paly,  one-quarter  dexter  and  one-quarter  sinister,  ^«/<?j,  the  remaining 
half,  or,  on  a  pale  sable  three  crosses  saltire  couped  argent. 


Plate  Vni 


The    Civic    Ancestry    of  New     Tork  39 

Over  Shield,  Distinct 

A  Shield,  bearing  the  insignia  of  the  West  India  Company  with  the 
flag"  of  the  Netherland  Republic,  consisting  of  three  horizontal  stripes, 
the  uppermost,  orange,  then  white  and   blue,  dependent  from  either  side. 

Plate  VIII. 

The  Silver  Signet  of  December  8,    1654 

Mr.  van  Laer  found,  among  the  Rensselaerswyck  Manuscripts  in 
the  State  Library,  a  letter  of  Oloff  Stevensen  van  Cortlant  to  his 
daughter  Maria,  widow  of  Jeremias  van  Rensselaer,  dated  N.  Yorck, 
Jan.  16,  1678,  and  sealed  with  the  Signet  of  Amsterdam,  in  New 
Netherland.  The  wax  impression  was  imperfect.  The  Signet  may 
have  measured  about  three  quarters  of  an  inch  in  diameter — say  half 
the  size  of  the  Seal.  At  the  time  of  the  English  occupation  in  1664  the 
Signet  probably  remained  in  the  possession  of  burgomaster  van  Cort- 
lant. In  the  fire  of  March  29,  191 1,  the  impression  was  destroyed 
and  the  letter  badly  damaged.     Up  to  this  time  neither  the   Signet  nor 


41.  Replying  to  a  letter  of  inquiry,  Jonkheer  Dr.  Th.  H.  F.  van  Riemsdijk,  Keeper  of  the  State 
Archives,  The  Hague,  writes: 
"  That  the  question  of  the  colours  of  our  national  flag,  in  various  epochs  of  our  history,  is  carefully 
discussed  by  Mr.  C.  deWaard,  in  his  excellent  book,  "  De  Xederlandsche  Vlag."  (Groningen, 
I.  B.  Wolters,  1900.)  From  de  Waard's  researches  it  would  follow  that  between  1572  and 
1630,  the  colours  of  the  flag  were  orange,  white,  blue;  between  1630  and  1664,  either 
orange,  white,  blue,  or  red,  white,  blue;  after  1664,  always  red,  white,  blue." 
A  very  interesting  account  is  given  by  Motley,  Rise  of  the  Dutch  Republic,  II.  25  ;  of  the 
capture  of  Brill,  April  i,  1572,   by  the  redoubtable  Treslong  and  De  la  Marck,  when  "the 

foundation  of  the  Dutch  Republic  was  laid The  Admiral,  in  the  name  of  the 

Prince  of  Orange,  as  lawful  stadholder  of  Philip,  took  formal  possession."  The  words  "of 
Philip"  were  even  at  that  time  ironic.  It  is  only  necessary  to  add  that  the  colors  of  the 
Prince  of  Orange  were  orange,  white,  blue.  It  is  a  thousand  pities  that  the  orange  was  ever 
changed  to  red. 


40  The    Civic    Ancestry    of  New    Tork 

other  impression  of  it  has  been  found.  Fortunately,  in  contemplation 
of  this  work,  the  writer  secured  photographs  of  the  Signet  impression 
and  of  the  pendent  Great  Seals  of  the  State  of  1777  and  1798,  which 
are  reproduced  here.      All  of  these  were  destroyed  in  the  fire. 

Plate    IX. 

Seal  of  Amsterdam   in   New   Netherland 
Used  by   Burgomaster   Martin   Cregier   in    1659 

Translation 

[By  Mr.  Dingman  Versteeg  and  Mr.  L.  P.  de  Boer] 

CoRNELis  jANSEN  VAN  HooRN  has  obtained  the  Small  Citizenship  and  the  benefits  of  it  according 
to  privilege,  and  taken  the  citizens  oath. 

In  witness  of  which  this  has  been  confirmed  with  the  city  seal  impressed  underneath. 

Done  in  Amsterdam  in  New  Netherland  the  20th  of  Dec.  A°  1659. 

/  <— ^— <  ,  Martin  Cregier 

]    Seal    t 

This  was  found,  by  the  writer,  quite  recently,  in  the  possession  of 
the  Title  Guarantee  and  Trust  Company,  of  New  York.  Permission 
was  kindly  given  to  photograph. 

No  doubt  of  the  authenticity  of  the  document,  or  of  the  seal 
impression,  can  possibly  exist.      Martin   Cregier^'  was,  in  1659,  a  burgo- 

42.  Hist.  State  of  N.  V.,  by  John  Romeyn  Brodhead,  First  Period,  Harper  &  Bros.,  1S53,  p.  548, 
Stuyvesant  appoints  Arendt  van  Hattem  iv:  Martin  Kregier  burgomasters,  and  Jacob  Kip 
Secretary,  February  2,  1653,  etc, 

Holland  Documents,  Vol.  I.   549; 

Captain  Martin  Krygier  and  others  to  the  Burgomasters  of  Amsterdam,  Done  at  New  Amster- 
dam in  New  Netherland,  this  30  December,  A°  1653. 

Docs.  Rel.  to  the  Colonial  Hist,  of  the  State  of  N.  Y.,  by  John  Romeyn  Brodhead,  Harper  & 
Bros.,  1856,  vol.  I.  646:  The  Burgomasters  and  Regents  of  the  City  of  Amstelredamme 
(Holland)  appoint  Martyn  Kryger  Captain  of  a  Company  of  soldiers  to  be  sent  to  their 
Colonic  in  New  Netherland,  Dec.  5,  1656.     Impression  of  City  Seal  in  green  wax. 


Plate  IX 


//^^^  ym  J^^rn^^ 

^^I      ^V-'^S  -'~t-^?>^^  >>^-N*-^    f-U^rV^    S^ty^-i^ 


— \     ir-v" 


fiw'^v 


•'/ 


Plate  X 


Plate  XI 


P 


Beschryvinge      / 

Van.,  ^,vl::ri:^ 

NIEUVV-  nederlant> 

( (I5ljclijf  It  i)tt  tegrntooo2Diglj  in  ^tact  is ) 

Begrijpendc  dc  Namre,  Acre,  gclcgcnthcyt  en  vmchc- 
baerhcy t  van  hct  felvc  Lane ;  micfgadcrs dc  proffijtclijckc cn- 
de  gcwcnllc  tocvallen,  die  aldaer  tot  ondcrhout  dcr  Menfchcn  ,  (foo 
uychacr  Iclven  aJs  van  buytca  ingcbrjchc )  gevondcnworden. 

A     L     s         M     E    D     E 

Dcuianlere  en  onsfjemernt  epgenfcljappeu 

UnnDc  nullum  oftc  iJ5aturcilniUnnDni2nnDc. 

Ecn  byfonder  verhacl  vandcn  wonderlijckcn  Aert 

ende  hct  Wecfcn  dcr  B  E  V  E  R  S , 

Daer    Noch    Rr    Gevoeght    Is 

€m  «Difcour£(  oUrr  Dc  ge  Itgcntfjcpt  ban  Nieuw  Nedcrlandc , 

UllTffKn  ttn  Nedcrlandts  Falriot  ,  CIUJC  CCn_ 
Nicuw  Ncdcrlander. 

"Befchrtven  dotr 

AD     R    I    A    E    N     vander 

Bcyder  Rcchtcn  Doftoor,  die  ti^gt^^nwoor- 
digh  noch  in  Nieuw  Nederlant  ] 


itU^^'^^ 


«: 


^^ 


M  S  T  E  L  D 


^p  Evert  Nicuwenhof,  23ofcb-berfeooper/  tooomtitttop't 

Huflondt  In 't  i^tfci^f-boctfe  /  Anno  I  6  f  f , 


2' he    Civic    Ancestry    of  Neiu    Tork  41 

master  of  Amsterdam  in  New  Netherland,  and  possessed,  as  such, 
authority  to  use  the  city  seal.  The  fact  that  the  insignia  of  the  West 
India  Company  was  suppressed  cannot  be  attributed  to  accident. 

This  document  came  into  the  possession  ot  the  company  by  gift. 
It  had  come  down  with  a  land  title.  In  all  probability  the  seal  impression 
is  the  only  one  now  in  existence.  It  is  needless  to  add — this  was  a  verv 
fortunate  discovery. 

Plate    X. 

Seal  as  it  appears  on  the  Dutch  Resolutions  now  in  the  Library 
of  the  New  York   Historical   Society,  as  already  mentioned,  p.  38. 

Plate    XI. 

This  title  page  of  the  Description  of  New  Netherland,  by 
Adriaen  van  der  Donck,  LL.D.,^'  is  given  in  reference  to  the  preced- 
ing plate.  There  were  two  editions  of  this  work.  The  first  in  1655, 
in  which  year  the  author  died ;  the  second,  containing  the  so  highly 
prized  "  View  of  Nieuw  Amsterdam,"  etc.,  appeared  the  next  year. 

This  completes  the  Dutch  period. 

Contributions  for  the  Genealogies  of  the  first  settlers  of  the  Ancient  County  of  Albany,  From 

1630  to  1800  by  Prof.  Jonathan  Pierson,  1S72,  p.  35: 
Cregier  (Kregier)  Capt.   Martyn,  First  burgomaster  of  New  Amsterdam;  a  fearless  and  skillful 

military  leader  and  an  exemplary  magistrate. 
Valentine,  Hist.  City  of  N.  Y..  1853,  p.  98: 
Martin  Crigier,  one  of  the  earliest  emigrants  of  this  city  and  the  original  grantee  of  the  property 

ne.Kt  to  Mrs.  Kocks  who  owned  property  cor.  Broadway  &  Battery  place.  West  side,  which  was 

patented  to  him  in  1643,  but  had  not  been  built  upon  until  1659,  after  which  he  resided  on 

this  spot. 
43.   Hist.  State  of  N.  V.,  Brodhead,  vol.  I.   pp.  341-541,  etc.     .See  Pepys'  Diary,  (Sep.  29,  1664,) 
Note  2.     Wheatley  Edition.  Ibid.,  (Oct.  iS,  1664)  Ibid.,  (April  S,  1665.) 


42  The    Civic    Ancestry    of  New     Tork 

English    Period 

The  Seals  of  the  Province  and  City  of  New  York  of  the  EngHsh 
Period  are  represented  by  engravings  in  the  various  Editions  of  the  New 
York  State  Civil  List,  of  easv  reference  in  the  New  York  Historical 
Society  or  the  New  York  Public  Library.  In  the  latter,  consult  also  the 
Emmet  Collection. 

James  Duke  of  York  derived  his  title  to  the  territory  which  included 
the  Province  of  New  Netherland,  by  grant  from  his  brother  Charles  II, 
in  1664. 

Vol.  VI,   Records  New  Amsterdam,  Edited  by  Berthold  Fernow,  pp.   196—200. 

Att  a  Mayors  Court  held  at  New  Yorke  Octobr  the  5th  A°  1669.  Present  Mr  Corn  : 
Steenwyck,  Mayor ;  Mr  Ralph  Whitefield,  M'  Matthyas  Nicolls,  Mr  Isaacq  Bedloo, 
Mf  Johannes  de  peist'',  Mf  Nicol:  d  meyer,  Alderm:  Capt"  Jno.  Manning,  Sheril'  .... 
Capt?  Louelave  appearing  in  Court,  and  declared  that  he  Was  Commanded  by  his  honnr  the  Govern^ 
to  Present  to  the  Worshipp"  May!  &  Aldermen  of  this  Corporation,  a  Letter  from  his  honnour, 
with  a  Seal  for  the  Corporation,  with  a  Silver  Mace,  and  Seven  Gownes  for  the  Mayor  Alderman  & 
Sherif,  sent  from  his  Roy  all  Highnesse  to  his  honnf  the  GovT  for  to  be  presented  to  this  Court; 
W"^.""  said  Letter  from  his  honn^  being  opened  and  Read  in  open  Court,  jnthimatingas  folio weth; — 

Mr  Mayor,  and  You  the  rest  of  the  Aldermen — As  a  Perticular  Testimony  of  his 
R.  Highnesse  grace  and  fauour  to  this  his  Citty  of  New  Yorke,  I  am  Commanded  to  present 
you  from  him,  this  Present  Viz:  a  Publicq  Scale  for  the  Corporation,  a  Silver  Mace,  and  (sueve») 
Gownes  both  for  the  Mayor  &  Aldermen,  and  although  he  esteemes  somme  of  these,  but  as  the 
Gayety  and  Circumstantial  part  of  Government,  Yet  you  may  be  assured,  as  to  What  is  more 
essential  and  Substantial!,  itt  shall  receaue  all  encouragement  and  hartey  assistance  from  him,  and 
I  must  further  add,  that  haveing  the  honn'  to  be  his  Govern^  General  in  these  parts,  I  doe 
assure  You  that  Wherein  1  may,  any  Way  be  Servicable  to  You,  I  shal  Cheirefully  apply  my 
mind  to  it,  who  professe  no  higher  Cogitations  than  what  shal  tend  to  My  Royal  Masters 
Intrest,  and  the  Publicq  Welfare  of  those  Comitted  to  my  Charge;  Iff  therefore  You  Will 
Consider  of  Somme  Methode  for  the  better  regulation  of  Yf  Corporation  and  present  it  to  me. 
What  I  find  reasonable  and  practicable  I  shall  Willingly  allow  of,  and  What  appeares  above  my 
Strength  I  shal  with  the  best  Convenience  transmit  ouer  to  Receive  his  R:  H:  assent,  from  Whome 
I  doubte  not,  but  you  will  have  such  Satisfaction,  as  is  agreable  to  Yo'  Necessetiesa  nddesires,  I  haue 
no  more,  but  to  Wish  You  all  happinesse  and  an  assurance  that  I  am  Yor  afectionate  friend  and  Servant 

(:Signed)    Fran  :  Louelace. 
roRT  James  the  6th  ot  Octobf  1669. 


The    Civic    Ancestry    of  New    York  43 

(:The  Superscription)   To  the  Maior  &  Aldermen  of  the  Citty  of  New  Yorclc 

The  aboues'!  Letter  of  his  honnr  the  Goucrnr  being  Read,  the  Worshipp'.'  Mayor 
Delivered  to  the  Court  a  Lettf  Received  from  his  Royal  Highnessc,  and  directed  to  the  Mayor 
Aldfmen  and  Inhabitants  of  New  Yorke,  Inthimating,  Viz: 

Gentlemen,  I  have  received  Yor  Lettl"  and  addresse  of  17th  of  August  A"  1668  by  the 
hands  of  Collonel  Richard  Nicolls,  Yof  former  Gouernr  from  whom  I  have  also  received  a  full 
account  of  such  Particulars  as  you  referr  to  in  Yol"  Lettf  In  W''.'"  as  well  as  in  all  other  things 
you  may  rest  assured  that  I  will  endeavour  to  promote  Yof  Welfare  and  prosperity,  by  W''.''  only 
I  can  expect  to  find  the  advancement  of  my  Interest  With  you  I:  am 

Your  Louing  friend 
St;  James  lothof  July  1669.  (Signed)     James. 

Superscription;  To  the  Mayor  Aldermen  and  Inhabitants  of  New  York. 

Which  aboves'f  Letter  Likewise  being  Read  in  open  Court,  the  Worshipp"  Mayor  ordered 
that  Proclamation  should  be  made  for  the  Withdrawing  of  the  People  out  of  the  Court ;  W";*" 
being  done  the  following  order  from  his  Royal  Highnesse  sent  to  his  honn""  the  Govern"'.  Was 
Presented  to  the  Court  by  Capt"  Nicolls  and  is   Recorded  by  the  Govern?  order,  Videllez' 

I    Seal   j. 

James  Duke  of  Yorke  and  Albany,  Earl  of  Ulster,  Lord  high  Admirall  of  England  and 
Ireland,  Constable  of  Douer  Castle,  Lord  Warden  of  the  Cinque  Ports,  and  Gouern'  of 
Pourtsmouth  &  ca. 

Whereas  I  have  thought  fit  to  appoint  two  Scales"  to  be  made,  the  one  for  the  Province 
and  the  other  for  the  Corporation  of  New  Yorke  (:  which  I  haue  sent  unto  you  bv  Mr. 
Thomas  de  Lauall)  and  to  Direct  that  they  shall  be  made  use  of  uppon  all  Publicq  Concern- 
ments, both  of  the  Province  &  Corporation  afores?  : 

These  are  to  authorize  &  require  You,  that  from  and  after  Yof  receipts  the  said  Scales, 
you  Cause  the  same  and  no  others  to  be  made  use  of  uppon  all  occasions,  for  Sealing  of 
Warrants,  Writs,  Executions,  Pattents,  Graunts,  and  all  other  Publicq  Acts  and  Instruments, 
W"^!'  any  Waves  Concerne  either  the  Province  or  Corporation  of  New  Yorke  respectively.  For 
W"^?  this  shal   be  Yo''  Warrant  : 

Given  under  my  hand  and  Scale  at  St  :  James  this  4th  of  July  1669. 

To  ColIoneU  Francis  Louelace  ^^'2""'^)     ^'"^"• 

my  Govern'  of  New  Yorke.  j     r  u-    d  it-  , 

By  Command  of  his  Roy  :  Highnesse 

This  is  a  true  Coppy  transcribed  by  mee  (Signed)      M  :  Wren. 

N  :  Bayard.  Sec. 

44.  See  Nos.  4  and  5,  Paulding  Seals,  Plate  XXVI,  post.  See  also  Illustration,  "Duke  of  York,  after- 
ward James  II,  From  a  Rare  Old  Print,"  vol.  4.  p.  280  Pepys'  Diary  (Dec.  5,  1664,)  Wheatley 
Edition.  The  arms  of  the  Duke  appear  in  the  margin,  Sigill  •  Prcvi.xc  •  Novi  •  Eborac,  being 
added  as  in  Plate  .\II.     See  also  4  and  5,  Plate  XXVI.  and  Appendix  B. 


44  The    Civic    Ancestry    of  New    York 

Plate    XII. 
Seal  to  Dongan  Charter  (April  27.  1686). 


Minutes  of  the  Common  Council  of  the  City  of  New  York  vol.  I.  [MS.  MinutesJ, 
1 67 5- 1 696.  pp.  179-184.  Petition  presented  to  y*  Governor  in  y'name  of  y"  Mayof  Aldermen 
&  Comonalty  of  y*  Citty  ffor  a  Charter.  To  the  Right  Honourable  Coll  Thomas  Dongan  Esb' 
Liutenant  &  Governo'  &  vice  admirall  vnd'  his  Royall  Highness  James  Duke  of  yorke  &  Albany 
&c  of  Newyorke  and  dependencyes  in  America.  The  Humble  petition  of  y"  Mayo''  Aldermen  and 
Comonalty  of  y*  Citty  of  Newyork.  Sheweth  That  this  Citty  hath  had  and  enjoyed  several] 
ancient  Customes  priviledges  &  Immunityes  w'.''  were  Confirmed  &  granted  to  them  by  Coll 
Rich"!  Nicholls  late  Governo'  of  this  Province  by  .Authority  vnd'  his  Royall  Highness  Anno  1665 
who  Incorparated  y*"  Inhabitants  thereof  New  Harlem  &  all  others  Inhabiting  on  y*"  Island  man- 
hattan  whereon  this  Citty  standeth  as  one  body  pollitique  and  Corporate  vnder  y''  Governm!  of  a 
Mayo^  Aldermen  &  sherifFe  in  w"?  manner  it  hath  Continued  in  practice  euer  since  and  hath  had 
vsed  and  Injoyed  y"  Customes  libertyes  and  priuiledges  ffollowing,  uiz'.. 

1°  That  all  y*'  Inhabitants  on  y''  Island  Manhatans  was  vnder  y*  Gouermn'  of  y'  Citty  or 
Newyorke  .  .  .  .  p.  i8i.  12.  That  y"  s'|  Citty  had  a  Common  seale*^  to  serue  ffor  y* 
dealing  of  all    &  singular  their  affaires  matters  &  buisenes  touching  y'  s"?  Corporation   .... 

Newyorke  9^"  (November)  y"  g'.*"  1683. 

The  Charter, — granted  pursuant  to  the  foregoing  petition,  among 
other  things  for  a  corporate  seal,  and  known  as  the  Dongan  charter, — 
was  signed  by  Governor  Dongan  April  27,  1686, — and  contained  the 
following  provision:   (Vol.  I,  p.  296,  Printed  Minutes.) 

And  that  y«  Said  Mayor  Aldermen  &  Commonality  of  y«  Said  City  of  New  Yorke  and 
their  Successors  Shall  and  may  for  ever  hereafter  have  one  Common  Seal  to  Serve  for  the  Seal- 
ing of  all  and  singular  their  Affairs  &  Businesses  touching  or  Concerning  the  said  Corporation. 
And  itt  Shall  and  may  be  Lawfull  to  and  for  the  Said  Mayor  Aldermen  &  Commonality  of  the 
Said  Citty  of  New  Yorke  and  their  Successors  as  they  Shall  See  Cause  to  breake,  Change,  Alter 
and  New  Make  their  Said  Common  Seal  when  and  as  often  as  to  them  itt  Shall  Seem 
Convenient 


45.  It  appears  that  the  seal  here  referred  to  is  the  same  as  impression  No.  5 — Paulding  Seals — post. 
See  Deed,  The  Mayor,  Aldermen  and  Commonalty  of  the  Citty  of  New  Vorke  to  Anna  Maria 
van  Home,  1692,  Appendix  B. 


Plate  Xn 


The    Civic    Ancestry    of   New     Tork  45 

In  Witness  1  have  Caused  these  Presents  to  be  Entered  in  y"  Secretaries  office,  And  y" 
Scale  of  y':  Said  Province"'  to  be  hitherto  affixed  this  scaven  and  twentieth  day  of  April  In  the 
Second  year  of  y']  Reign  of  his  most  Sacred  Majesty  Aforesaid  And  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one 

thousand  Six  hundred  and  Eighty  six 

(Signed)      Thomas  Dongan. 

p.   179.      Att  a  Comon  Councell  held  in  the  Citty  of  Newyorke  the   24th  day  of  Jully 

1686 The  Mayo' Presented  the  new'"  Scale  of  this  Citty  with  this  inscription,  SiGiLLUM 

CiviTAT  :  Novi  :    [Eborac]    Which  is  agreed  upon  and  ordered  to  be  the  Comon  Scale  of  this 
Citty   .... 

Revolutionary  and   State   Period 
Clinton   Great  Seal  of  the  State  of  New   York 

Journals    of    the    Provincial    Congress,    Provincial    Convention,    Committee   of 
Safety    and    Council    of    Safety    of    the     State    of    New    York,    1775-1776-1777. 
Albany  :  1842. 
y  ,    J  City  of  New  York,       ) 

■'    ■  April  20th  1775  f 

The  Deputies  hereinafter  named,   from  the  following  counties,  assembled  at  the  Exchange 
in  this  city,  for  the  purpose  of  forming  a  Provincial  Convention,  vizt : 

Philip  Livingston,  Esquire,  John  Alsop,  Esquire,  James  Duane,  Esquire,  John  Jay,  Esquire, 
Colo.  Leonard  Lispenard,  Mr.  Francis  Lewis,  Mr.  Abraham  Walton,  Mr.  Isaac  Roosevelt,  Mr. 
Alexander   McDougall,  and   Mr.  Abraham  Brasicr — For  the   City  and  County  of  New  Tork. 


46.  Documents  relative  to  the  Colonial  History  of  the  State  of  New  York,  ed.  by  E.  B.  O'Callaghan, 

1854;  vol.  IV.,  pp.  S11-S12.  Extract  of  a  letter  from  the  Earl  of  Bellomont  (then  Colonial 
Governor)  to  Secretary  Popple,  dated  2gth  November,  1700 — Sir:  .  .  .  Besides  all  that, 
it  appears  plainly  the  Charter  of  New  Yorke  is  not  a  legal  charter,  for  the  Original  I  have 
lately  seen;  'tis  sealed  with  the  Duke  of  Yorke's  seal,  and  neither  the  Great  Seal  of  England 
nor  Seal  of  the  Province,  yet  it  bears  date  the  2d  year  of  King  James,  so  that  the  whole 
foundation  is  wrong.  In  strickness  this  is  no  City,  and  all  the  judgments  that  have  been 
pass'd  in  their  Mayor's  Court  are  void;  yet  Colonel  Dongan,  I  am  told,  and  Mr.  Graham 
got  a  good  sum  of  money  for  this  Charter. 
The  learned  Earl  did  not  observe  that  the  Seal  was  the  Provincial  Seal  of  1669. — Brodhead, 
Hist.  State  of  N.  Y.;  Vol.  II.,  p.  43S:  "The  Corporation  of  New  York  had  for  some  time 
desired  a  new  charter  from  the  King,  confirming  their  old  privileges,  and  granting  to  them 
all  the  vacant  land  in  and  about  the  city.  As  Bayard,  its  mayor,  was  one  of  the  Council, 
and  Graham  its  recorder  and  attorney-general  of  the  province,  a  draft  of  the  desired  patent 
was  quickly  submitted  to  the  municipal  authorities,  who  agreed  to  give  Dongan  ^^^300,  and 
Secretary  Spragg  ;^24,  as  their  oflicial  fees.  The  engrossed  charter,  having  been  read  and 
allowed  in  Council,  was  accordingly  signed  by  the  governor,  who  caused  it  to  be  sealed 
with  the  Old  Provincial  Seal  which  the  Duke  of  York  had  sent  out  to  Lovelace  in  1669,  and 
which  was  yet  the  only  one  that  could  be  used."  See  Col.  Docs.,  quoted  above,  vol.  III., 
p.  427;  New  Seal  Prov.  of  N.  Y.,  Aug.  14,  1687.     See  N.  Y.  S.  Civil  List. 

47.  No.  I,  Paulding  Seals.     Plate  XXV^I,  p.  63. 


46  The    Civic    Ancestry    of   New    York 

Colo.  Philip  Schuyler,  Colo.  Abraham  Ten  Broeck  and  Abraham  Yates,  Junr.,  Esquire — 
For  the  City  and  County  of  Albany. 

Charles  D.  Witt,  George  Clinton  and  Levy  Pawling,  Esqrs.  —  For  Ulster  County. 

Colo.  A.  Hawkes  Hay,  Henry  Wisner,  Esquire,  John  Herring,  Esquire,  Mr.  Peter 
Clowes  and  Mr.  Israel  Seely — For  Orange  County. 

Colo.  Lewis  Morris,  John  Thomas,  Junr.,  Esquire,  Robert  Graham,  Esquire,  Major 
Philip  Van  Cortlandt,  Samuel  Drake,  Esquire  and  Mr.  Stephen  Ward — For  West  Chester 
County. 

Colo.  Morris  Graham,  Major  Robert  R.  Livingston,  Junr.  and  Egbert  Benson,  Esquire — 
For  Dutches  County. 

Simon  Boerum,  Esquire,  Capt.  Richard  Stillwell,  Mr.  Theodorus  Polhemus,  Mr.  Denice 
Denice  and  Mr.  John  Vander  Bilt — For  Kings  County. 

Colo.  William  Floyd,  Colo.  Nathaniel  WoodhuU,  Colo.  Phineas  Fanning,  Thomas 
Tredwell,  Esquire,  and  John  Sloss  Hubbard  [Hobart]  Esquire — For  Suffolk  County. 

Colo.  Jacob  Blackwell  and  Mr.  John  Talman — From  Nezv  Town  and  Flushing,  in 
Queens  County. 

The  Convention  unanimously  chose  Philip  Livingston,  Esquire,  to  be  their  President. 
....  The  Convention  then  unanimously  elected  John  McKesson,  Esquire,  to  be  their  Secre- 
tary  The  credentials  ot  the  several  members  were  approved 

DIE  SABATTI,   [11  hora,  a.m.] 
[Vol.  I.,  4]  April  22nd.   1775. 

The  Convention  assembled  at  the  Exchange  in  New-York,  pursuant  to  adjournment. 
Present — Philip  Livingston,  Esquire,  President.     John  Alsop  Esquire,  etc.  etc. 

Philip  Livingston  Esquire,  James  Duane,  John  Alsop,  John  Jay,  Simon  Boerum,  William 
Floyd,  Henry  Wisner,  Philip  Schuyler,  George  Clinton,  Lewis  Morris,  Francis  Lewis,  and 
Robert  R.  Livingston,  Junr.  Esquires,  were  unanimously  elected  Delegates  to  represent  this 
Colony  in  the  next  Continental  Congress  at  Philadelphia  on  the  tenth  day  of  May  next, 

JOURNAL 

of  the 
Provincial  Congress 

[Vol.  I.,  7]  City  of  New-York       ) 

May  22nd.   1775  [ 

A  number  of  gentlemen.  Deputies  from  several  counties  in  this  Colony,  assembled  at 
the  Exchange  in  the  city  of  New-York,  for  the  purpose  of  forming  a  Provincial  Congress;  but 
as  they  conceived  there  were  not  a  sufficient  number  of  members,  they  agreed  to  meet  here  at 
the  Exchange  to-morrow,  at  ten  o'clock  A.M. 

At  a  meeting  of  a  Provincial  Congress  for  the  Colonv  ot  New-York,  at  the  Exchange 
in  the  city  of  New-York,  on  Tuesday,  the  twenty-third  day  of  May,  1775 — 


The    Civic    Ancestry    of  New     York  47 

The  Deputies  of  a  majority  of  the  counties  appearing,   they  proceeded  to  the  choice  of 
the  following  officers,  who  were  unanimously  elected,  vizt  : 
Peter  Van  Brugh  Livingston,  Esqr.  President. 
Volkert  P.  Douw,  Esquire,  l^ice-PresiJent. 
John  McKesson,  Esqr,  and  )   „        ^     . 
Mr.  Robert  Benson  ) 

Thomas  Pcttit,  Doorkeeper. 

[The  credentials  of  the  Deputies  were  approved  as  follows:] 

Isaac  Low,  Peter  Van  Brugh  Livingston,  Alexander  McDougall,  Leonard  Lispenard, 
Joseph  Hallett,  Abraham  Walton,  Abraham  Brasier,  Isaac  Roosevelt,  John  De  Lancey,  James 
Beekman,  Samuel  Ver  Planck,  Richard  Yates,  David  Clarkson,  Thomas  Smith,  Benjamin 
Kissam,  John  Morin  Scott,  John  \'an  Cortlandt,  Jacobus  Van  Zandt,  John  Marston,  George 
Folliot,  and  Walter  Franklin — C/Vy  untl  County  of  New  York. 

Robert  Yates,  Abraham  Yates,  Volkert  P.  Douw,  Jacob  Cuyler,  Peter  Silvester,  Dirck 
Swart,  Walter  Livingston,  Robert  Van  Ranselacr,  Henry  Glenn,  Abraham  Ten  Broeck,  and 
Francis  Nicoll — City  and  County  of  Albany. 

Dirck  Brinckerhoff,  Anthony  Hoffman,  Zephaniah  Piatt,  Richard  Montgomerie,  Ephraim 
Paine,  Gilbert  Livingston,  Jonathan  Landon,  Gysbert  Schenck,  Melancton  Smith,  Nathaniel 
Sackett — Dutches  County. 

Colo.  Johannes  Hardenbergh,  Colo.  James  Clinton,  Egbert  Dumond,  Esqr.  Charles 
Clinton,  Christopher  Tappen,  John  Nicholson  and  Jacob  Hoornbeek — Ulster  County. 

John  Coe  and  David  Pye — In  Orange,  Haverstraiv. 
»Michael  Jackson,  Benjamin  Tusteen,  Peter  Clowes  and  William  Allison — Goshen. 

Colo.  Nathaniel  Woodhull,  John  Sloss  Hobart,  Thomas  Tredwell,  John  Foster,  Ezra 
L'hommedieu,  Thomas  Wickham,  James  Havens  and  Selah  Strong — Suffolk  County. 

Governeur  Morris,  Lewis  Graham,  James  Van  Cortlandt,  Stephen  Ward,  Joseph 
Drake,  Philip  Van  Cortlandt,  James  Holmes,  David  Dayton,  John  Thomas,"  Junr.,  Robert 
Graham  and  William  Paulding — West  Chester  county. 

Henry  Williams,  Esqr.,  Jeremiah  Remsen,  Esqr. — Brooklyn  in  Kings  county. 

Paul   Micheau,  John  Journey,  Aaron  Cortelyou,  Richard  Conner,  Richard   Lawrence — 

Richmond  County The  following  rules  are  agreed  to,  and  resolved  to  be  the  rules  of 

this  Congress  vizt    ....    The  Congress  then  adjourned  till  five  o'clock  p.m. 

5  ho.    P.M.   May  23d. 
The  Congress  met  pursuant  to  adjournment. 

Present — Peter  V.  Brugh  Livingston,  Esquire,  President. 
.    .    .    .    The  Deputies  for  Orange  Town  produced  a  certificate    ....    whereby  it  appears 
that  Colo.  Abraham  Lent   and   John   Herring,  Esquire,  were   unanimously  chosen  Deputies  to 
represent  them  in  this  Provincial  Congress,  to  be  held  at  the  city  of  New- York. 

Ordered,  That  Colo.  Abraham  Lent,  and  John  Herring,  Esquire,  take  their  seats. 


48  The    Civic    Ancestry    of  Neiv    York 

Mr.  Isaac  Low  moved,  (and  was  seconded  by  Mr.  Morris,)  that  this  Congress  enter  into 
a  resolution  in  the  words  following,  vizt: 

Resolved,  As  the  opmion  of  this  Congress,  that  implicit  obedience  ought  to  be  paid  to 
every  recommendation  of  the  Continental  Congress,  for  the  general  regulation  of  the  associated 
colonies;  but  that  this  Congress  is  competent  to  and  ought  freely  to  deliberate  and  determine  on, 
all  matters  relative  to  the  internal  police  of  this  Colony.  And  debates  arising  thereon,  Mr. 
Scott  (seconded  by  Mr.  Clarkson)  moved  for  the  previous  question,  to  wit:  Whether  the 
question  on  Mr.  Low's  motion  shall  be  now  put?  and  the  said  previous  question  being  put,  was 
determined  in  the  following  manner,  vizt: 

For  the  previous  question  .  .  .  .  19.  jigainst  the  previous  question  ....  2. 
.    .     .    .    The  Congress  then  adjourned  to  this  place,  at  nine  o'clock  to-morrow  morning. 

At  subsequent  meetings  of  the  Provincial  Congress  many  additional 
Deputies  were  admitted  to  seats.  Each  of  these  bodies — the  Provincial 
Convention  and  the  Provincial  Congress — made  adjournments,  from  time 
to  time,  during  the  continuance  of  which  Committees  of  Safety  were 
appointed  to  act ;  neither  were  they  continuous  organizations,  new  Depu- 
ties succeeded  in  accordance  with  timely  appointments  by  the  people. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Provincial  Convention,  at  White  Plains,  July 

10,    1776,    General     Nathaniel    Woodhull,    President — p.    5/9,    Printed 

Journals — the  following  Resolution  was  passed : 

Resolved  and  Ordered,  That  the  style  or  title  of  this  House  be  changed  from  that  of 
"the  Provincial  Congress  of  the  COLONY  of  New- York  "  to  that  of  "  the  Convention  of 
THE  Representatives  of  the  STATE  of  New-York." 

At  a  meeting  of  a  Provincial  Convention, 

r,j  ,    T     00  1  DIE  MARTIS,  9  HO  a.m.  i 

[Vol.  I.,  882]  ...  '•  ^  \ 

L  J  April  1 5.   1777.  j 

Pierre  Van  Cortlandt  Presiding,  the  following  resolution  was  adopted  : 
On  motion  of  Mr  Morris, 

Resolved,  That  a  committee  be  appointed  to  prepare  and  report  a  proper  device  for  a  great 
seal  of  this  State;  and  that  Mr.  Morris,  Mr.  Jay  and  Mr.  Hobart  be  a  committee  for  that  purpose. 

It  does  not  appear  that  the  committee  ever  made  a  report. 

Vol.   I.,   891.      A    Constitution    for    the    State    of   New   York   was 

adopted  April    20.    1777.      At    the    same    time    Robert    R.   Livingston, 


The    Civic    Ancestry    of  New     Tork  49 

General  Scott,  Mr.  Morris,  Abraham  Yates,  Mr.  Jay  and   Mr.  Hobart, 

were  appointed  a  committee  to  prepare  and  report  a  plan  for  organizing 

and  establishing  the    government  agreed    to    by    the    Convention,    over 

which   Leonard  Gansevoort  had  presided. 

JOURNAL  OF  THE  PROVINCIAL  CONVENTION. 
[Vol.  I.,  915-916]  Die  Jovis,   p.m. 

May  8.  1777. 

The  Convention  met  pursuant  to  adjournment. 

Present — Genl.  Ten  Broeck,  President 

The  plan  for  organizing  government  being  finished,  was  read  and  agreed  to,  and  is  as 
follows,  to  wit  : 

Whereas,  until  such  time  as  the  constitution  and  government  of  this  State  shall  be  fully 
organized,  it  is  necessary  that  some  persons  be  vested  with  power  to  provide  for  the  safety  of  the' 
same.      Therefore, 

Resolved,  That  John  Morin  Scott,  Robert  R.  Livingston,  Christopher  Tappen,  Abraham 
Yates,  Junr.,  Governeur  Morris,  Zephaniah  Piatt,  John  Jay,  Charles  De  Witt,  Robert  Harper, 
Jacob  Cuyler,  Thomas  Tredwell,  Pierre  Van  Cortlandt,  Matthew  Cantine,  John  Sloss  Hobart 
and  Jonathan  Tompkins,  or  the  major  part  of  them,  be,  and  they  hereby  are,  appointed  a  Coun- 
cil of  Safety,  and  invested  with  all  the  powers  necessary  for  the  safety  and  preservation  of  the 
State,  until  a  meeting  of  the  Legislature:  Provided,  That  the  executive  powers  of  the  State 
shall  be  vested  in  the  Governor,  as  soon  as  he  shall  be  chosen  and  admitted  into  office  ;  previous 
to  which  admission,  such  Governor  shall  appear  before  the  said  Council,  and  take  the  oath  of 
allegiance  ;  and  also  the  following  oath  of  office,  to  be  taken  by  the  Governors  and  Lieutenant- 
Governors  of  this  State,  to  wit :    .     .     .     . 

And  Whereas  many  of  the  said  officers  are  necessary,  not  only  for  the  immediate  execu- 
tion of  the  laws  of  this  State,  and  the  distribution  of  justice,  but  also  for  the  holding  of  such 
elections  as  aforesaid.      Therefore, 

Resolved,  That  the  following  persons  be,  and  they  hereby  are  appointed  within  this  State, 
by  authority  of  the  same,  to  wit:  That  Robert  R.  Livingston  be  chancellor;  John  Jay,  chief 
justice;  Robert  Yates  and  John  Sloss  Hobart,  puisne  judges;  and  Egbert  Benson,  attorney- 
general  of  this  State.    .    .    . 

Tuesday  Afternoon,  May  13,  1777. 
[Vol.  I.,  929.] 

The  Convention  met  pursuant  to  adjournment. 

Present — Brigr.  Genl.  Ten  Broeck,  President. 

.  .  .  .  Resolved  and  Ordered,  That  the  Counsel  of  Safety  do  assemble  at  this  place 
to-morrow  morning  at  nine  o'clock. 

The  Convention  then  dissolved. 


50  The    Civic    Ancestry    of  New    York 

JOURNAL  OF  THE  COUNCIL  OF  SAFETY. 
[Vol.  L,  933.]  DIE    MERCURII,    to  ho.   a.  m. 

May  14,   1777. 
The  members  of  the  Council  of  Safety  met : 

For  want  of  another  member  to  make  a  quorum,  adjourned  till  four  o'clock  this  after- 
noon. 

DIE   MERCURII,   4  ho.    pm.,    May    14.   1777. 
.    .    .    .     Pierre    \'an    Cortlandt,   Esquire,    was   unanimously   elected    President   of  the 
Council. 

[Vol.  I.,  990.]  DIE   MERCURII,  4  ho  P  M.  July  9.   1777. 

The  Council  met  pursuant  to  adjournment. 

Prayers  as  usual. 

Present — Pierre  Van  Cortlandt  Esqr.  President. 

....  This  Council  do  therefore  declare  that  George  Clinton,  Esquire,  is  duly  elected 
Governor  of  this  State.  And  the  said  Council  do  further  declare,  that  the  said  George  Clinton 
is  also  duly  elected  to  be  the  Lieutenant-Governor  of  this  State 

General  Clinton  declined  the  latter  office  and  Pierre  Van  Cortlandt 
received  the  appointment. 

DIE   MERCURII  4  ho.  P.M.  July  16.  1777. 
[Vol.  I..  997.] 

The  Council  met  pursuant  to  adjournment. 

Present — Pierre  Van  Cortlandt.  Esqr.  President. 

.    .    .    .    Resolved,  That  the  Legislature  of  this  State  be  convened  to  meet  at  Kingston, 

in  Ulster  county,  on  the  first  day  of  August  next 

DIE  MERCURII  10  ho  a.m. 
[Vol.  I.,  1021]  July  30.  1777- 

The  Council  met  pursuant  to  adjournment. 

Prayers  as  usual. 

Present — Pierre  \  an  Cortlandt,  Esqr.  President. 
.  .  .  .  His  Excellency  George  Clinton,  duly  elected  Governor  of  this  State,  appeared  in 
Council  of  Safety  and  took  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  State,  and  also  the  oath  of  office  of 
Governor,  as  prescribed  by  the  ordinance  of  the  Convention  of  the  Representatives  of  the  said 
State,  made  and  passed  the  eighth  of  May  last,  for  organizing  and  establishing  the  government 
agreed  to  by  the  said  Convention.  The  said  oaths  were  administered  by  the  President  in 
Council,  and  are  subscribed  on  the  roll  by  the  Governor  in  Council.  Thereupon  the  Council 
of  safety  agreed  and  ordered  a  proclamation  for  declaring  and  proclaiming  the  Governor  of  this 
State,  in  the  words  following,  vizt : 


The    Civic    Ancestry    of  New     Tork  51 

In   Council  of  Safety  for  thk  State  of  New-York,  \ 

July  30.   1777 

A   PROCLAMATION 

"Whereas  His  Excellency  George  Clinton,  has  been  duly  elected  Governor  of  this  State 
of  New- York,  and  hath  this  day  qualified  himself  for  the  execution  of  his  office,  by  taking  in 
this  Council  the  oaths  required  by  the  constitution  of  this  State,  to  enable  him  to  exercise  his 
said  office  : 

This  Council  doth,  therefore,  hereby,  in  the  name  and  by  the  authority  of  the  good 
people  of  this  State,  proclaim  and  declare  the  said  George  Clinton,  Esqr.  Governor,  General 
and  Commander-in-Chief  of  all  the  militia,  and  Admiral  of  the  navy  of  this  State,  to  whom 
the  good  people  of  this  State  arc  to  pay  all  due  obedience,  according  to  the  laws  and  constitution 

thereof. 

By  order  of  the  Council  of  Safety 

PIERRE  VAN  CORTLANDT,"  President. 
"  God  save  the  people  " 

[Vol.  I.,  1027.]  DIE   MARTIS   3   ho.    P.M.  Augt.  5,  1777. 

The  Council  met  pursuant  to  adjournment. 

Present — Pierre  \'an  Cortlandt,  Esqr.  President. 
.    .    .    .    A  message  from  His   Excellency  Governor  Clinton,  was  read,  and  follows,  in  these 
words,  to  wit  : 

"  Gentlemen — .As  the  public  emergencies  render  the  meeting  of  the  Legislature  of  the 
State  at  this  time  extremely  inexpedient,  as  will  appear  in  some  measure  by  the  papers  herewith 
delivered  you,  I  think  it  advisable  to  prorogue  the  Senate  and  Assembly  until  the  20th  instant; 
but  as  this  can  not  be  done  in  the  accustomed  form,  for  want  of  a  great  seal,  I  wish  to  have  the 
sentiments  and  advice  of  your  Honorable  Board,  on  the  propriety  under  those  circumstances,  of 
proroguing  the  Senate  and  Assembly  by  proclamation,  under  my  hand  and  seal  at  arms. 

"  George  Clinton. 

Kingston,  ^t/i  August  1777. 

.    ,    .    .    His  Excellency's  said  message  was  again  read,  and  taken  into  consideration. 

Thereupon, 

Resolved,  That  though  this  Council  cannot  presume  to  intermeddle  with  the  prorogation 
itself,  yet  with  respect  to  the  form  in  which  the  same  should  be  made,  it  is  their  sentiments  and 
advice,  that  considering  the  necessity  of  the  case.  His  Excellency  may  safely  make  the  prorogation 
aforesaid,  under  his  hand  and  seal  at  arms,  without  the  danger  of  establishing  any  evil  precedent. 
.  .  .  .  Mr.  McKesson,  one  of  the  Secretaries,  brought  into  Council,  His  Excellency  the 
Governor's  Proclamation,  proroguing  the  Legislature  of  this  State,  under  his  hand  and  seal  at 
arms,  which  was  so  issued  from  the  necessity  of  the  case  and  for  want  of  a  great  seal  of  the 


52  The    Civic    Ancestry    of  New    York 

State.  And  the  said  secretary  informed  the  Council  that  he  received  the  said  Proclamation  from 
his  Excellency,  who  requested  that  it  may  be  filed  among  the  records  and  papers  of  this  Council; 
the  same  being  read,  is  in  the  words  following,  vizt  : 

— .- —  "  By  His  Excellency  George  Clinton,  Esqr.  Governorof  the  State  of  New-York, 

L  S  >■  General  and  Commander-in-Chief  of  all  the  Militia,  and  Admiral  of  the  Navy 


of  the  same. 


A   Proclamation. 


Whereas  the  public  emergencies  do  at  this  time  render  a  meeting  of  the  Legislature  of 
this  State  inexpedient,  I  do  therefore  by  virtue  of  the  authority  reposed  in  me  by  the  constitu- 
tion thereof,  prorogue  the  Senate  and  Assembly  of  this  State,  until  the  twentieth  day  of  thb 
instant,  August,  and  the  said  Senate  and  Assembly  are  hereby  prorogued  until  that  day,  of  which 
the  people  of  this  State  are  required  to  take  notice  and  govern  themselves  accordingly. 

"  Given  under  my  hand  and  seal  at  arms  at  Kingston,  in  the  county  of 
Ulster,  this  fifth  day  of  August  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand 
seven  hundred  and  seventy-seven. 

"  Geo.  Clinton. 
"  By  His  Excellency's  command, 
Stephen  Lush,  Secry. 

"  God  save  the  People." 

This  draft  of  the  Proclamation  remained  with  the  archives  of  the 
Council  of  Safety  in  the  State  Library,  Albany,  until  the  time  of  the  State 
House  fire,  when  it  was  destroyed.  No  photograph  had  been  made, 
as  time  had  so  far  obliterated  the  impression  of  the  small  seal  that  a  copy 
was  impossible. 

Nor  was  this  the  onlv  occasion  upon  which  Governor  Clinton  used 
his  "  seal  at  arms  "  as  and  for  a  great  seal  of  the  State.  The  menace  of 
the  Burgoyne  campaign  induced  the  Governor  to  again  issue  a  Proclama- 
tion, under  date  of  August  i8,  1777,  still  further  proroguing  the  Legisla- 
ture to  meet  at  Kingston  on  the  ist  proximo,  when  he  again  used  his 
"  seal  at  arms."  Another  Proclamation,  dated  at  Poughkeepsie,  Decem- 
ber 15,  1777,  requiring  the  Legislature  to  meet  at  Poughkeepsie  in 
Duchess    County    on    Monday,   the    fifth    day    of  January,   1778,    was 


The    Civic    Ancestry    of  New    York  53 

attested  in  the  same  way.  When  the  Council  of  Safety  was  contem- 
plating a  final  adjournment,  at  a  session  held  on  the  loth  of  September, 
1777,  a  confirmatory  resolution  was  adopted  as  follows: 

DIE  MERCURU    10  ho  am. 
[v.  i,  1059.]  September  10.   1777 

The  Council  met  pursuant  to  adjournment. 
Prayers  as  usual. 

Present — Pierre  Van  Cortlandt  Esqr.  President. 
.     .     .     Resolved,  That   His   Excellency  the  Governor,  and   Chancellor  of  this  State,  be 
requested  to  devise  and  order  to  be  made,  a  great  seal  for  this  State,  and  that  in  the  mean  time 
the  seal  of  the  Governor  be  the  great  seal  ot  this  State. 

The  Provincial  Conventions  and  the  Council  of  Safety  were  not 
legislative  bodies,  they  were  temporary  expedients.  At  the  same  time 
they  emanated  directly  from  the  people  as  did  all  acts  of  quasi  legislation 
prior  to  the  first  session  of  the  Legislature  on  September  10,  1777.  It 
will,  however,  be  observed  that  the  Governor's  Proclamation  of  Decem- 
ber 15,  1777,  like  those  issued  before  the  organization  of  the  Legislature, 
was  also  attested  under  his  hand  and  seal  at  arms. 

Investigation  has  not  extended  so  far  as  to  determine  what  further 
use,  if  any,  the  Governor  made  of  his  seal  in  that  capacity  prior  to 
March  16,  1778,  when  Arms  and  a  Great  Seal  were  adopted  by  the 
Legislature. 

Indefatigable  search  was,  for  a  long  time,  made  for  the  Governor's 
seal,  or  an  impression  of  it,  but  to  no  purpose  until  recently,  when 
a  chance  reference  enabled  the  writer  to  find  the  long  sought  prize  in 
Albany."^ 

48.  The  writer  is   indebted  to  Mr.   Robert  H.   Kelby,   Librarian  of  the  N.   Y.    Hist.  Soc.  for  this 
reference. 


54  The    Civic    Ancestry    of  New    York 

Plate    XIII. 

Is  a  reproduction  of  the  impression  of  the  Governor's  seal,  actual 
size,  and  enlarged.  A  color  blazon,  Plate  XIV,  appears  as  Frontispiece. 
The  impression,  in  wax,  was  made  in  1766  when  the  Governor  was 
about  27  years  of  age  and  when  he  was  practicing  law  in  his  native 
County  of  Ulster,  then  of  the  Province  of  New  York. 

It  has  already  been  said  that  the  Arms  and  the  Great  Seal  of  the  State 
of  New  York  were  legislatively  provided  under  the  Act  of  March  16,  1778: 

Journal  of  the  Assembly  of  the  State  of  New-York.  A.D.  1778. 

George  Clinton,  Esq;  Governor   [Printed  minutes:   N.  Y.  Hist.  Soc.  p.  47] 

Tuesday,  9  o'clock,  a.m.  February  10.   1778. 

....  Mr.  Benson,  moved  for  Leave  to  bring  in  a  Bill  further  to  organize  the 
Government  of  this  State. 

Ordered,  That  Leave  be  given  accordingly. 

Mr.  Benson  according  to  Leave,  brought  in  a  Bill,  entitled,  "  An  Act  further  to  organize 
the  Government  of  this  State,''   which  was  read  the  first  Time  and  ordered  a  second  Reading. 

Journal  of  the  Senate  of  the  State  of  New  York,   A.  D.   1778. 

George  Clinton  Esq;  Governor. 

Saturday  Morning,  February  14,  1778.      [p.  59] 

.  .  .  .  A  Message  from  the  Honorable  the  House  of  Assembly,  by  Mr.  Ja\  and  Mr. 
IVilliams,  with  a  Bill,  entitled,  "y///  Act  further  to  organize  the  Government  of  this  State"; 
desiring  the  Coocurrencc  of  the  Senate  thereto;  which  was  read  the  first  Time,  and  ordered  a 
second   Reading. 

Laws  of  the  State  of  New  York,  Passed  in  the  first  Session  of  the  Senate  and  Assembly 
of  the  said  State,  beginning  the  tenth  day  of  September,  1777,  and  continued  by  Adjournments, 
and  ending  with  the  last  day  of  June,  1778. 

Chap.  XJL  An  Act  further  to  organize  the  Government  of  this  State.  Passed  the  i6th 
of  March,  1778. 

L  .  .  .  And  Whereas,  Arms  have  been  devised  for  this  State,  and  two  several  Seals 
have  been  devised  and  made,  one  of  the  said  Seals,  as  and  for  the  Great  Seal,  and  the  other,  as 
and  for  the  Privy  Seal  of  this  State,  (and  which  said  Seals  arc  now  in  the  Custody  and  Posses- 
sion of  his  Excellency  the  present  Governor;) 

IL  Be  it  therefore  further  enacted  by  the  authority  aforesaid.  That  the  said  Arms  and 
Seals,  shall  severally  be,  and  they  are  hereby  respectively  declared  to  be   the  Arms,  the  Great 


Plate  Xin 


Plate  XV 


.^ 


SJ 


^^ 


.i 


-#^f^^  N\' 


^^•:T 


I— I 


V 


^, 


The    Civic    Ancestry    of  New    Tork  55 

Seal,  and  the  Privy  Seal  of  this  State,  That  the  Person  administering  the  Government  of  this 
State,  for  the  Time  being,  shall  have  the  Custody  and  Possession  of  the  said  Seals.  That  the 
said  Seal,  hereby  declared  to  be  the  Privy  Seal,  shall  be  the  Seal  for  military  Commissions ; 
and  all  such  Matters  and  Things  as  heretofore,  while  this  State,  as  the  Colony  of  New-  Tork, 
was  subject  to  the  Crown  of  Gmit-Britnin,  were  issued,  under  the  Seal  at  Arms  of  the  Governor 
or  Commander  in  Chief,  of  the  Colony  for  the  Time  being,  shall  issue  under  the  said  Seal, 
hereby  declared  to  be  the  Privy  Seal  of  this  State.  And  that  all  such  Matters  and  Things,  as 
heretofore,  while  this  State,  as  the  Colony  of  New-  Tork,  was  subject  to  the  Crown  of  Great- 
Britain,  were  issued  under  the  Cireat  Seal  of  the  Colony,  shall  in  future,  (the  Proceedings  in 
the  Court  of  Chancery  hereinafter  mentioned  excepted)  issued  under  the  said  Seal,  hereby 
declared  to  be  the  Great  Seal  of  this  State  ;  and  shall  be  made  out  and  entered  of  Record,  in  the 
Office  of  the  Secretary  of  the  State,  in  the  same  Manner,  as  when  this  State,  as  the  Colony  of 
New-Tork,  was  subject  to  the  Crown  of  Great-Britain,  the  same  were  made  out  and  entered 
of  Record,  in  the  Office  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Colony.    ,    .    . 

Plate  XV. 
The  enlarged  Arms  disentangled  from  the  letter  T,  is  taken  from 
the  print  on  the  Commission  of  Andries  Wilson,  Gent",  Plate  XVI, 
which  also  bears  the  Privy  Seal,  and  is  dated  April  2,  1778.  The  Great 
Seal,  Plate  XVII,  although  dated  "  1777,"  was  not  used  until  after  the 
passage  of  the  Act  of  March  1 6,  1 778,  by  which  it  was  authorized  together 
with  the  Arms  and  Privy  Seal. 

The  formation  of  the  State  of  New  York  led  to  the  adoption  of  new 
insignia.  We  have  seen  here  the  names  of  many  Hollanders  who  took 
conspicuous  part  in  the  hazard  of  that  day,  some  of  these,  doubtless, 
possessed  copies  of  Dutch  works  that  were  then,  relatively,  of  recent 
date — such  as  we  have  quoted — Pierre  Bizot,  Jean  Le  Clerc,  Gerard  van 
Loon  and  others.  The  Rise  of  the  Dutch  Republic  was  the  archetype 
of  our  own  Revolution,  and,  naturally  enough,  the  rich  pictorial  records 
of  the  Netherlands  found  renewed  expression  ;  as  the  following  examples 
serve  to  exemplify:    Plates  XVIII,  XIX.  XX,   XXI   and  XXII. 


1— ' 


Plate  XVin 


Plate  XIX 


H  I  s  r  O  I  R  E 


^Syyir  Emunc  )our  du  faiiicux  Sac  ci'Anvcrs,  Doui 
——  I  Jean  ci'Audrichc  tils  nature!  de  Charles  Qumt, 
J— 'ctoitarrivda  laVilledc  Luxembourg  pour  <::rc 
GouvcrncurdesPays  bas:  Cc  Prince  nyanticmnigne' 
qu'il  defiroit  lapaix,  fcs  Deputez  &ccux  dcs  Ellats 
s'afTcmblcrciit  a  Marchc  en  Famine  Villc  du  Luxem- 
bourg: Onytitlciz.  Fcvrier  i  JTT-  leTraitcapf'c!- 
Ic  PEdit  perpetucl,quc  Ic  Prmce  d'Orangc  &  les  Elhis 
d'HulIandc  &  dc  Zelandc  retufcrcnt  dc  figncr.  Sui- 
vantcc  nouvcauTraitcqui  confirmoit  laPacification 
dcGand,  Ics  TronpcsF.rpagnoles  &  Etrangercsfor- 
tircnt  dc  Flandre ,  &  Dom  Jean  tit  (on  cntrc  a  Bruxcl- 
Ics  le  premier  jour  dc  iMay. 

Ch  T  TE  Medaillc  tut  faitc  en  mil  cinq  ccns  foixante  & 

dix-fept,cn  mcmoirc  dc  la  Paix  deMarchc  en  Famine. 

Lajulliccfur  unTr6nc,  ayanta  fadroitelaPaixqui 

tient un  flanibeau ,  dont  elle brulc  des  x^rmcs , 

&  a  fa  gauche  I'abondancc. 

JUSTITIA    PaCEM    ,      COPIAM    PaX    ATTULIT. 

La  Jujltce  a  produit  'a  Paix  ,  ^  la  Faix  l^abcndance. 
REFERS. 
La  libcrtc  tenant  d'unc  main  une  palmc  avcc  une  dp^e 
proche  de  laquclle  il  y  a  des  chaincs  &  des  fers  brife?, , 
elle  tient  de  I'aHtre  un  chapeau,dont  ellc  couvre  deux 
rameauxd'olivier  fonansd'unecouronnc,  laquclle 
ell  foutcnuc  d'un  coeur,qui  ell  au  dclfus  de  deux  mains 
jointcs  enfcmblc ,  &  au  deflbus  eii  un  Lion  en  repos- 

VlNDlCATA       LI  BERT  AS     CONCORDIA. 

La  liberty  ajjlirc'e  par  l\nicn. 


ritfUMi 


'mmmk 


Plate  XX 


Plate  XXI 


CATION  HiSlURICl 


CLXVU 


Plate  XXII 


% 


I.  De  eerfte  voert  op  de  voorayde  Anjous  borfteeld  verfierd  met  den  Hertoglyken  mantel  en 
muts}  in  den  rand  Icelt  men  dccze  nieuwc  tytds: 

FRANciscus,  FiLius  FRANciiE,  FRAter  UNICcs  REGis, 
DBf  Gratia  DUX  BRAsANTiiE. 

FRANCOIS,  ZOON  VAN  FRANKRVK^  EEIflGE  BROEDER  DES 

KONINGS,  DOOR  GODS  GENJDE  HERtOG 

VAN  BRABANT. 

Op  de  achterzydc  (laat  zyn  blazoen  of  zinnebeeld ,  zynde  eenc  Zon,  die,  naa  't  verdry\'en  der 
wolken,  het  aardiyk  met  haare  flraalen  koeftertj  onder  decze  byfpreuk: 


/.  "Deel. 


FOVET  ET  DISCUTIT.     15-82. 

ZY  KOESTERT  EN  VERJAAGt,    ifSz. 

iiii 


11.  De 


The    Civic    Ancestry    of  New    Tork  57 

Plate    XIX. 

Mr,  Edgar  A.  Harner,  in  a  Note,  p.  190,  New  York  Civil  List, 
I  889-1 891,  makes  the  following  observation: 

In  the  original  Arms,  1778,  the  supporters  are  draped  in  short  gown  and  petticoat  accord- 
ing to  the  Dutch  fashion.      On  the  supporters  of  the  second  Seal,  1798,  the  drapery  is  classic. 

This  statement  is  authenticated  by  the  full  page  illustration  from 
p.  34,  HisToiRE  Metallique  de  La  Hollande  Par  M'  Bizot,  already 
quoted    I,   p.   28   herein. 

Plate   XX. 

Plate  XX  is  from  Vol.  IV.,  p.  46,  Histoire  Des  Provinces-Unies 
Des  Pays-Bas,  Par  M!*  Le  Clerc,  etc.     See  III,  p.  30  herein. 

Negotiations  with  the  Duke  of  Anjou  began  as  early  as  1 573  and 
had  now  resulted  in  his  election  as  Governor  of  the  Netherlands.  Trans- 
lated, the  narrative  of  Le  Clerc  reads  as  follows: 

The  Duke  of  Anjou  had  gone  to  England  in  order  to  confirm  with  Queen  Elizabeth  the 
treaty  which  she  had  made  with  the  Provinces.  Upon  his  return  he  took  possession,  at 
Antwerp,  of  his  new  dignity  on  the  condition  of  maintaining  the  People  in  their  Privileges.  It 
was  on  this  subject  that  the  Medal  LXXVI  was  struck  :  .  .  .  .  Francis  son  of 
France  and  only  brother  of  the  King,  By  the  Grace  of  God  Duke  of  Brabant,  &c. 
Coi;nt  of  Flanders.  On  the  other  side,  a  Sun  which  dissipates  the  clouds  with  these  words 
It  warms  and  it  dissipates,  and  it  was  intended  to  express  the  hope  that  he 
(the  Duke)  would  maintain  peace  and  allay  their  fears.  But  the  joy  which  the  People  exhibited 
at  this  ceremony  was  soon  troubled  by  the  accident  which  befel  the  Prince  of  Orange.  The 
Spaniards  could  not  forgive  him  the  Revolution  which  he  had  incited  in  the  Pays-Bas  :  They 
hired  an  assassin  by  the  name  of  Jean  Jauregui,  a  native  of  Biscay,  who,  on  the  I  8th.  of  March 
1582"'"  fired  at  him  a  pistol  shot  which,  however,  wounded  the  Prince  but  slightly  in  the  head. 
This  is  the  subject  of  the  Medal  LXXVI  I,  on  which,  on  one  side,  the  action  is  represented 
with  the  following  words  which  perfectly  express  the  disposition  which  the  Spaniards  entertained 


52.     Motley,  R.  D.  R.,  II.  65S,   Plate  XX. 


58  The    Civic    Ancestry    of  New    York 

against  him  .  .  .  .  It  is  by  foul-play  and  not  in  fair  field  that  one  can  attack 
HIM.  And  on  the  other  side  one  sees  a  King  who  stamps  his  foot  as  if  he  desired  to  express  his 
anger  at  the  failure  of  the  assassin  in  missing  his  aim ;  one  of  the  Councilors  of  the  King  ;  and 
one  of  his  guards,  with  the  following  Legend:  The  treacherous  will  finally  receive  punish- 
ment  

Plate  XXI  is  from  p.  96,  same  Vol.,  last  above.     See  post. 

Plate  XXII  is  from  p.  309,  Beschryving  Der  Nederlandsche 
HisTORiPENNiNGEN  :  .  .  .  .  DooR  Mf  Gerard  van  Loon,  E  E  Rste 
Deel,  In's  Graavenhaage MDCCXXIII. 

[N.  Y.  Pub.  Lib.  Stuart  1161,  Vol.  I,  pp.  247,  254,  309,  311,  322,  332.] 

It  seems  to  be  quite  unnecessary  to  enter  upon  an  extended  explana- 
tion of  Plates  XVIII,  XIX,  XX,  XXI,  and  XXII.  A  comparison 
with  Plates  XV,  XVI,  XVII,  and  XXV,  cannot  fail  to  convince  the 
reader  that,  so  far  as  the  present  Arms  and  Great  Seal  of  the  State  of 
New  York  are  concerned,  their  origin  is  Dutch.  As  to  the  Crest  of  the 
State,  as  well  as  that  of  the  City  Arms,  the  little  tell-tale  tuft"  on  the  head 
of  the  Phoenix  in  Plate  XXI,  was  reproduced  by  the  engraver  in  Plates 
XV  and  XVI,  which  also  gives  ground  for  placing  the  so-called  Eagle 
upon  a  semi-terrestrial  globe.  Suggestions  for  the  Rock,  upon  the 
reverse  in  Plate  XVII,  are  numerous,  especially  on  p.  247  of  Mr.  Van 
Loon's  work. 

The  reader  will  find,  used  as  a  vignette,  on  the  title  page  hereof,  the 
second,  counting  from  left  to  right  upper  row  in  Plate  XXII;  which 
again  compare  with  Plate  XV — the  meadow,  waves,  the  two  ships, 
featured  sun,  etc. 


53.     See  reference,  p.  55,  Nos.  3  and  6,  Plate  XXVI. 


X 

® 
-p 


The    Civic    Ancestry    of  New     Tork  59 

In  1582  the  Dutch  vainly  hoped  for  Hberty  and  peace,  hence  the 
sun  appeared  dispelHng  the  clouds. 

In  our  case  the  sun  had  not,  in  1778,  nor  has  it  up  to  this  time 
now  three  centuries  later  than  the  Dutch  sun,  hurst  in  full  splendor. 
Our  sun  has  yet  to  shine,  like  the  proverbial  gentle  dew  from  heaven, 
upon  all  alike.  Even  at  the  present  day,  see  plate  XXV^,  the  rays  are 
partly  obscured  by  the  mountain  top. 

Plate   XXIII. 

This  Great  Seal  of  the  State  of  New  York  was  authorized  by 
Act  of  January  26,  1798.  [Pam.  Laws  N.  Y.  179B.]  Like  the  Great 
Seal,  1777,  it  was  a  pendent  seal,  and  was  recorded  January  22,  1799. 
This  seal  and  the  preceding  one  bearing  the  figures  1777,  were  the 
onlv  pendent  seals.  All  the  others  are  surface  seals,  that  is  they 
have  no  reverse.  Here  the  supporters  have  exchanged  sides.  Justice 
appears  on  the  dexter  and  Liberty  on  the  sinister  side.  The  drapery  of 
the  figures  is  changed — the  petticoat  and  short-gown  disappear.  The 
Crest  is  correctly  given — the  head  of  the  eagle  turning  toward  the  dexter 
side.  The  reverse  follows  the  reverse  of  the  preceding  seal.  The  word 
Frustra  is  retained  and  the  inscriptions,  with  the  new  date. 

The  originals,  reproduced  in  Plates  XVII  and  XXIII,  together 
with  all  the  others  less  perfect,  were  destroyed  in  the  State  House  fire. 
Photographs  were  made  for  the  writer  just  before  this  unfortunate 
occurrence,  and  these  are  all  that  now  remain  of  that  celebrated  collection. 
At  the  time  the  photographs  were  taken   the  writer  also  made  copies  of 


6o  The    Civic    Ancestry    of  New    Tork 

the  documents  to  which  these  seals  were  attached.  The  document 
authenticated  by  the  "1777"  seal,  in  its  entirety,  read  as  follows;  in 
writing  at  the  top  : 

"  The  People  of  the  State  of  New  York,  By  the  Grace  of  God  free  and  Independent. 
To  all  to  whom  these  presents  shall  come  Greeting.  Know  Ye  that  we  having  Inspected  the 
Records  remaining  in  our  Secretary's  Office  do  find  there  Recorded  in  Book  of  Military 
Patents  N?  5  page  378  certain  Letters  patent  in  the  words  and  figures  following  vis!" 

Then  follows  in  the  printed  form: 

"The  People  of  the  State  of  New  York,  By  the  Grace  of  God,  Free  and  Inde- 
pendent :  To  All  to  whom  these  Presents  shall  come.  Greeting  :  Know  Ye,  that,  in  pursuance 
of  an  act  of  our  legislature,  passed  the  6th  day  of  April,  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and 
ninety;  entitled,  "an  act  to  carry  into  effect  the  concurrent  resolutions,  and  acts  of  the  legislature 
for  granting  certain  lands,  promised  to  be  given  as  bounty  lands,  and  for  other  purposes  therein 
mentioned,"  We  Have  Given,  Granted,  and  Confirmed,  and  bv  these  Presents,  Do  Give, 
Grant,  and  Confirm  unto  Hugh  McCalley,  All  that  certain  tract  or  lot  of  land  situate,  lying 
and  being  in  the  County  of  Montgomery  and  in  the  Township  of  Aurelius  known  and 
distinguished  on  a  map  of  the  said  Township  (filed  by  our  Surveyor  General,  in  our  Secretary's 
Office,  agreeable  to  law)  by  lot  number  Ninety  Eight  Containing  Six  hundred  acres  Toc;ether 
with  all  and  singular  the  rights,  hereditaments  and  appurtenances  to  the  same  belonging,  or  in 
any  way  appurtaining ;  Excepting  and  Reserving  to  ourselves  all  gold  and  silver  mines  and  also 
five  acres  of  every  hundred  acres  of  the  said  tract  or  lot  of  land  for  highways  :  To  Have  and 
to  Hold  the  above  described  and  granted  premises,  unto  the  said  Hugh  McCalley  his  heirs  and 
assigns,  as  a  good  and  indefeasible  estate  of  inheritance,  for  ever.  On  Condition  ne\erless,  that 
within  the  term  ot  seven  years,  to  be  computed  from  the  first  day  ot  January,  next  ensuing  the 
date  hereof,  there  shall  be  one  actual  settlement  made  on  the  said  tract  or  lot  of  land,  hereby 
granted,  otherwise  these  our  Letters  Patent,  and  the  estate  hereby  granted,  shall  cease,  determine, 
and  become  void. 

In  Testimony  whereof  we  have  caused  these  our  Letters  to  be  made  Patent,  and  the  Great 
Seal  of  our  said  State  to  be  hereunto  affixed.  Witness  our  trusty  and  well  beloved  George  Clinton, 
Esquire,  Governor  of  our  said  State,  General  and  Commander-in-Chief  of  all  the  Militia,  and 
Admiral  of  the  Navy  of  the  same,  at  our  City  of  New  York,  this  Seventh  day  of  July  in  the  year 
of  our  Lord  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  ninety  and  in  the  fifteenth  year  of  our  Independence. 

Approved  by  the  Commissioners  of  the 

Land  Office,  and  passed  the  Secretary's  Geo:   Clinton. 

Office  the  l8th  day  of  December  1790 

Robt  Harpur  D  Seer? 
Examined  and  compared  with  the 
original  By  me     Robt  Harpur  D  Seer?" 


The    Civic    Alice stry    of  New     Tork  6i 

All  of  which  Wc  have  exemplified  by  these  presents. 

In  Testimony  whereof  we  have  caused  these  our  Letters  to  be  made  patent,  and  the  Great 
Seal  of  our  said  State  to  be  hereunto  affixed  : 

Witness  our  trusty  and  well  beloved  John  Jay  Esquire  Governor  and   Commander-in- . 
Chief  of  all  the  Militia  and  Admiral  of  the  Navy  of  the  same,  at  our  City  of  New  York  this 
twenty  sixth  day  of  August  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  ninety  six 
and  in  the  twentieth  Year  of  our  Independence. 

John  Jay. 

There  appears  on  the  back  the  following : 

"  Passed  the  Secretary's  Office 
the  26th  day  of  August  1796. 
Jasper  Hopper 

D  Secrr" 

Also  : 

"Secretary's  Office  of  the  State  of  New  York,  August  29th  1796 — I  do  hereby  certify 
that  on  the  Ninth  day  of  December  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  ninety  application  was 
made  for  the  within  recited  Letters  patent  by  Stephen  N.  Bayard  and  that  the  same  was  there- 
upon made  out  and  delivered  to  him  accordingly  as  appears  by  a  memorandum  of  Delivery  of 
Military  patents  in  this  office. 

Jasper  Hopper 

D  Secrr" 

The  foregoing  transcript  was  sealed  with  the  pendent  Seal  of  "  1 777." 
Another  Patent,  by  "  The  People  of  the  State  of  New  York. " 
To  Philip  Kelch,  for  Lot  No.  56,  Township  of  Sterling  in  the  Military 
Tract,  "  Beginning,"  etc.  The  description  is  by  metes  and  bounds,  the 
number  of  acres  not  given.  Signed  by  Daniel  D.  Tompkins  Esquire, 
Governor,  etc.,  at  Albany.  Dated  March  31,  1809,  Thirty-third  of 
Independence. 

This  was  sealed  with  the  pendent  Seal  of"  1798." 


62  The    Civic    Ancestry    of  New    Tork 

Plate    XXIV. 

This  Great  Seal  is  from  the  photograph  of  an  engraving  of  the 
seal  in  the  New  York  Civil  List,  and  is  passed  without  comment. 
The  seal  was  authorized  by  Act  of   March  27,  1809. 

Plate  XXV. 
The  Arms  of  the   State  of  New  York  as   now  (1913)   in  use 

In  the  year  1879  an  attempt  was  made  to  ascertain  what  were  the 
'Correct  Arms  of  the  State  of  New  York,'  resulting  as  shown  in 
Plate  XXV.  A  history  of  this  attempt  may  be  found  in  either  the 
library  of  the  New  York  Historical  Society  or  in  the  New  York  Public 
Library,  and  consists  of  the  following  publications : 

(i)  The  Correct  Arms  of  the  State  of  New  York  as  established  by 
law  since  March  16,  1778.  A  Historical  Essay  read  before  the  Albany 
Institute,  Dec.  2,  1879,  by  Henry  A.  Holmes,  LL.D.,  of  the  State 
Library,  Albany,  1880. 

(2)  Report  of  the  Commissioners  of  the  Correct  Arms  of  the  State 
of  New  York,  with  Appendix:  Letter  of  H.  A.  Holmes  to  the  Com- 
missioners, Transmitted  to  the  Senate  April  13,  1881,  Albany,  1881. 

(3)  Second  Paper  on  the  Correct  Arms  of  the  State  of  New  York 
as  established  by  law  since  March  16,  1778.  Read  before  the  Albany 
Institute,  May  24,  1881,  by  Henry  A.  Holmes,  LL.D.,  Librarian  of  the 
State  Library,  Albany,  1882. 


Plate  XXIV 


Plate  XXV 


Plate  XXVI 


'-'/^.Sl,.:/^^ay'  's   Seal.  i^^J:  £/.  c\iy  )      ^^      //OJ. 


ji. ^  -  .-s^jg^ ..  '.-^  -^  .xsm^-^. 


The    Civic    Ancestry    of  New     Tork  63 

(4)  By  Act  of  May  20,  1882,  Chap.  190,  the  Legislature  of  the 
State  of  New  York  passed  the  above  Act,  entitled,  "  An  Act  to  reestablish 
the  original  arms  of  the  State  of  New  Tork  and  to  provide  for  the  use  thereof 
on  the  public  seals''  How  far  the  engraver  is  responsible  for  the  result 
the  reader  may  judge. 

Pl.ate  XXVI. 

Paulding  Seals 

No.  I  has  already  been  alluded  to  in  connection  with  the  Dongan 
Charter,  p.  44  herein.  "  No.  2,  Seal  of  the  Corporation  of  Trinity 
Church,  1697,  still  in  use."  It  is  a  tradition  in  the  office  of  the  cor- 
poration that  the  steel  die  now  used  to  give  impression  of  the  seal  is 
the  very  same  piece  of  metal  into  which  the  design  was  sunk  in  1697. 
There  is  a  very  strong  likelihood  that  the  tradition  is  well  founded,  as 
attendant  circumstances  clothe  it  with  every  probability  of  truth.  "No. 
3,5'*Seal  of  N.  Y.  Comm.  Council,  struck  immediately  after  Revolution." 
"No.  4,  Territorial  Seal  of  Governor  Dongan  (about  1685)."  This  was 
the  Provincial  Seal  of  1669,  same  as  impressed  on  Dongan  Charter, 
Plate  XII.  "No.  5,  Mayor's  Seal  (N.  Y.  City)-i70i,"  This  was  the 
Seal  of  "  the  Corporation  of  New  Yorke,"  which  accompanied  the 
Provincial  Seal  in  1669,  see  p.  43  herein,  and  Appendix  B.  "No.  6, 
Mayor's  Seal,  1795."^^  New  York  was  evacuated  by  the  British  Nov. 
25.  1783- 

54.  In  1784. 

55,  Also  1784,  "Seal  of  Mayoralty." 


64  The    Civic    Ancestry    of  New    Tork 

The  following  extracts  are  from  the  Minutes  of  the  Common 
Council,  then  engaged  in  formulizing  the  new  city  government. 
[Manuscript  Minutes,  Library,  City  Hall.] 

City  of     )  ^  At  a  Common  Council  held   at  the   House  of  John  Simmons  Inn 

New  York  \  holder  in  the  City  of  New  York  on  Tuesday  the    i6'!-  Day  of  March 

178+. 
[Vol  VIII  p.  31]  Present — ^James  Duane  Esq!^  Mayor, 

Richard  Varick  Esqr  Recorder, 


The  following  Laws  &  ordinances  were  passed  and  published  and  ordered  to  be  printed 
in  one  of  the  public  News  Papers,  viz!      .... 

A  law  for  altering  and  directing  the  uses  of  the  public  Seals  of  this  City     .... 

Bound  Volume,  The  New  York  Packet  and  the  American  Advertiser, 
Thursday  April  8.   1784  [N.  Y.   His!  Soc] 

City  of  New  York.  ss. 

At  a  Common  Council  held  in  the  said  City,  on  Tuesday  the    16th 
day  of  March,  1784. 

Present,  James  Duane,  Esquire.  Mayor. 

Richard    Varick   Esquire   Recorder,      .... 

The  following  Laws  and  Ordinances  for  the  good  rule  and  government  of  the  inhabitants 
and  residents  within  the  said  city,  were  ordained  made,  established  and  published,  and  ordered  to 
be  printed  in  one  of  the  public  News  Papers,  viz: 

A  Law  for  altering  and  directing  the  Uses  of  the  public  Seals  of  this  City. 

Be  it  ordained  by  the  Mayor,  Aldermen,  and  Commonalty  of  the  city  of  New  York, 
in  Common  Council  convened,  and  it  is  hereby  ordained  by  the  authority  of  the  same.  That  the 
Seal,  commonly  called  the  City  Seal,  the  Seal,  commonly  called  the  Seal  of  the  Mayor's  Court, 
and  the  Seal  commonly  called  the  Seal  of  Mayoralty,  be  respectively  altered  in  the  following 
manner:  That  is  to  say.  That  the  device,  on  the  said  seals  respectively,  in  representation  of  an 
Imperial  crown  be  defaced,  and  that  instead  thereof,  the  crest  of  the  arms  of  the  State  of  New 
York,  that  is  to  say,  a  representation  of  a  semi  globe,  with  a  soaring  eagle  thereon,  be  inserted, 
and  that  the  Mayor  be  authorized  to  cause  the  said  seals  respectively  to  be  altered   accordingly. 

And  be  it  further  ordained  by  the  authority  aforesaid.  That  the  said  first  above 
mentioned  Seal,  be,  and  remain  in  the  custody  and  keeping  of  the  Clerk  of  this  city,  and  that 
the  same  be  put  and  affixed  to  all  grants,  leases,  freedoms,  warrants  and  other  instruments  and 
writings  which  shall,  from  time  to  time  be  made  granted  or  issued,  by  order  of  the  Common 
Council  or  otherwise,  provided  for  by  the  charter  cf  this  city,  and  to  freedoms  granted  by  order 


The    Civic    Ancestry    of  New    York  65 

of  the  Mayor's  Court,  and  that  the  said  seal  shall  be  not  put  or  used  to  any  other  purpose 
whatsoever. 

That  the  said  small  seal  commonly  called  the  Seal  of  Mayor's  Court,  also  be  and 
remain  in  the  custody  and  keeping  of  the  said  Clerk,  and  be  put  and  affixed  to  all  proces? 
issuing  out  of  the  said  Court,  and  the  Court  of  General  Sessions  of  the  Peace,  and  to  no  other 
purposes  whatsoever. 

And  the  said  Seal,  commonly  called  the  Seal  of  Mayoralty,  be  and  remain  in  the 
custody  and  keeping  of  the  Mayor  of  the  said  city  for  the  time  being,  and  that  the  same  may, 
by  the  said  Mayor,  or  by  the  said  Mayor,  or  Court  of  Aldermen  of  the  said  city  for  the  time 
being,  be  put  and  affixed  to  all  such  writings  and  instruments,  depositions,  affidavits,  exemplifica- 
tions, testimonials,  protests,  and  other  matters  and  things  as  are  useful  and  customary  to  be 
certified  under  the  public  seal  of  any  Mayoralty,  for  the  better  attesting  of  the  truth  of  the 
matters  and  things  thereby  certified. 

City  of    I  At  a  Common  Council  held  at  the  City  Hall  of  the  said  City  on 

New  York  ("     '  Wednesday  the  i"  day  of  September  1784 

Present — James  Duane  Esqr  Mavor 

Ordered  the  like  to  pay  Andrew  Billings  the  Sum  of  fifteen    Pounds  ten  shillings  in   full 
of  his  acct.  for  making  new  Corporation  Mayoralty  &  Mayors  Court  Seals — 
audited  by  the  Committee  and  allowed  by  the  Board  jr^\'^,,\o. — 

....  Mr  Mayor  pursuant  to  the  ordinance  of  this  Corporation  in  that  case  made  and 
provided  [  That  of  March  16.  1784]  produced  to  the  Board  the  Corporation,  the  Mayoralty 
and  the  Mayors  Court  Seals  altered  agreeable  to  the  Directions  of  the  said  ordinance  ;  which 
said  Seals  being  respectively  examined  &  approved  of  by  the  Board,  it  was  thereupon  Ordained 
determined  &  declared  that  the  said  Seals  respectively  be  adopted  as  the  public  Seals  of  this 
City  &  that  the  old  Seals  be  broken  by  the  Clerk  in  presence  of  Mr.  Mayor,  and  the  said 
old  Seals  were  respectively  broken  accordingly. 

It  will  be  observed  that  the  ordinance  of  March  16,  1784,  provided 
that  the  representation  of  an  Imperial  crown  as  a  crest  should  be  defaced 
in  the  old  seals  and  that  the  crest  of  the  State  Arms,  being  a  semi  globe 
with  a  soaring  eagle  thereon,  should  be  substituted.  The  engraver,  as  is 
usually  the  case,  substituted,  in  good  part,  his  own  incorrect  designs 
shown  in  Nos.  3  and  6. 

In  this  connection  it  is  interesting  to  note  that  an  English  Seal 
of  Mayoralty  was  authorized  in    1735.     See  Appendix  C. 


66  The    Civic    Ancestry    of  New    York 

Plate  XXVII 
City  of  New  York  Seal  of  Mayoralty 

In   Common   Council 

Vol.    28,  minutes  April    i8th,    18 14 

Common  Council,  157. 

Hon.    De  Witt  Clinton,    Mayor 

....  His  Honor  the  Mayor  informed  the  Board  that  the  Seal  of  the  Mayoralty  having 
become  so  much  worn  as  to  be  no  longer  legible  he  had  directed  a  new  one  of  steel  to  be  made 
which  he  presented.      Whereupon 

Resolved,  that  the  seal  sunk  in  steel,  now  presented  be  hereafter  considered  as  the  Seal  of 
Mayoralty  of  the  City  of  New  York,  and  be  affixed  as  such  in  attestation  of  all  papers  and 
Documents  wherein  the  said  seal  is  by  law  and  custom  to  be  used 


]ls[ 


It  having  been  also  represented,  that  the  City  Seal  and  the  Seal  of  the  Mayor's  Court 
had  by  long  usage  become  much  worn,  it  was  refered  to  the  following  committee  to  take  order, 
on  causing  new  Seals  to  be  sunk. 

The  Committee  were  Mr.  King 

"    Brackett 
Aid"  Smith. 

It  was  also  ordered  that  the  comptroller  audit  the  account  and  report  a  Warrant,  for 
executing  the  Mayoralty  Seal,  &  cause  the  old  seal  to  be  broken  up  and  destroyed. 

On  page  187,  Warrant  reported  by  comptroller  as  having  been 
paid — May  2,  18 14: 

Mr.  Fourtz  on  acct  Mayty  Seal  (or  Bal)  gioo. 

On  page  311,  July  18,  1884: 

M.  Fourot.      May'''  Com  Coun'  &  Mayors  Court  Seals,  $260.00. 

In  the  New  York  City  Directory  for  18 14,  the  following  entry 
appears : 

L.  Fourniquet,  g  &'  s  smith,  2/  Ann. 


Plate  XXVn 


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Jth 


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tixi. 


v.t^  <at^^  c-^  £.  «-c.^^-t-   t^-cc 


ttZc,  my'lL  Oca./  ^^t  ct^  TU^f     J^^cA^  ,     9-  CCC  c c J  <2U  'TTZk^'  ^^^-t    e/t^:tX^»7d     <^/<l^. 


Plate  XXVni 


The    Civic    Ancestry    of   New     York  67 

Here  the  Engraver  again  asserts  himself.  The  Eagle,  head  twisted 
to  the  sinster  side,  replaces  the  Phoenix.  The  "semi  globe"  is  enriched 
with  curved  diagonal  lines,  as  in  Plate  XXVIII,  and  the  Cupid  bow 
moderates  the  ferocity  of  the   Indian.     See  No.    i,   Plate  XXVI. 

Plate    XXVIII 

Seal  of  New  York   City 
From  an  impression  of  the   seal  at  present  in  use.     This  Seal, — 
now    in    the    keeping    of   Mr.  Scully,  City  Clerk, — follows   closely   the 
design  in  the  preceding  seal,  the  inscription,  however,  conforms  to  that 
in  the  Paulding  Seal   No.  i. 


'LATE 


XXIX 


See    Appendix    B,    wherein    No.   5,   Paulding    Seals,   Plate    XXVI 
is  discussed. 


APPENDICES 


APPENDIX   A 


TABLE  I. 

p 

The  dexter 

uints  of  the  Escutcheon. 

ABC 

The  sinister 

or 

D 

or 

right  hand 

E 

left  hand 

side  of  the 

F 

side  of  the 

escutcheon. 

^--Z-^ 

escutcheon. 

A  Dexter  chief. 
B  Middle  chief. 
C  Sinister  chief. 
D  Honour  point. 
E  Fess  point. 
F  Nombril  point. 
G   Dexter  base. 
H  Middle  base. 
1    Sinister  base. 

Note,  The 
escutcheon,  ni 
part  of  the  CSC 

chief  is  the  top  or  chief  part  of  the 
aiked  A,  B,  C  ,  the  base  is  the  lower 
utcbeon,  marked  Or  H,  I. 

THE  ESCUTCHEON 

Escutcheon,  or  Shield,  in  arms,  means  the  original 
shield  used  in  war,  and  on  which  arms  were  originally 
borne;  the  surface  of  the  escutcheon  is  termed  the  yf^A?, 
because  it  contains  such  honorable  marks  as  anciently 
were  acquired  in  the  field. 

Points  of  the  Escutcheon  mean  certain  points  or 
locations,  in  which  the  figures  or  charges  of  the  field 
happen  to  be  particularly  placed  ;  the  shield  is  said  to 
represent  the  body  of  a  man,  and  has  its  parts  taken 
therefrom,  as  by  the  example,  Table  I. 

A  signifies  that  part  to  be  the  dexter,  or  right  hand 
chief;  B,  the  precise  middle  chief;  C,  the  sinister  or 
left  hand  chief;  D,  the  collar,  or  honor  point;  in  regard 
that  eminent  men,  as  knights  of  the  garter,  thistle, 
&c.  wear  their  badges  of  honour  about  their  necks  ;  in 
like  manner  is  E  called  the  heart  or  fess  point,  as  being 
the  exact  middle  of  the  shield;  F,  the  nombril,  or  navel 
point;  G,  H,  I,  the  dexter,  middle,  and  sinister  base 
points ;  whence  particular  care  ought  to  be  paid  thereto, 
for  the  more  plainly  describing  the  position  or  seat  of 
the  things  borne  ;  for  the  same  figure,  in  the  very  same 
tinctures,  borne  in  different  points  of  the  escutcheon, 
renders  those  bearings  so  many  different  arms.  There- 
fore these  points,  or  locations,  ought  to  be  well 
observed  ;  for  an  arms  with  a  lion  in  chief  differs 
essentially  from  one  with  a  lion  in  base. 

Table  II 
COLOURS  AND  FURS 
The  colours  used  in  the  science  of  heraldy  are  gene- 
rally red,    blue,   black,  green,  purple;   termed  in    this 
science  gules,  azure,  sable,  vert,  and  purpure.      Yellow 
and  white,  termed  or  and  argent,  are  metals: 


Table,  ii 


Argent 


GULE6' 


AZITRE 

/3^ 


Sable 


Purpure 


7^^ 


Names. 

Colours 

Or,     -        -        - 

Yellow. 

Argent, 

-        White. 

Gules, 

Red. 

Azure, 

Blue. 

Sable. 

Black. 

Vert, 

Green. 

Purpure,     - 

Purple. 

Colours  and  metals,  when  engraved,  are  known  by 
points  and  hatched  lines;  as  or,  the  metal  gold,  is  known 
in  engraving  by  small  dots  or  points;  argent,  a  metal 
which  is  white,  and  signifies  silver,  is  always  left  plain; 
GULES,  this  colour  is  expressed  by  lines  perpendicular 
from  top  to  bottom;  azure,  a  color  known  by  hori- 
zontal lines  from  side  to  side;  sable,  a  colour  expressed 
by  horizontal  and  perpendicular  lines  crossing  each 
other  ;  vert,  a  colour  described  by  hatched  lines  from 
right  to  left  diagonally;  purpure,  a  colour  known  by 
hatched  lines  from  the  sinister  chief  to  the  dexter  base, 
diagonally.  See  the  examples  T  2.  S.  Petrasancta, 
an  Italian  herald,  about  two  centuries  ago,  is  said  to 
have  been  the  first  who  thought  of  expressing  the 
tinctures  by  lines  and  points. 


71 


APPENDIX    B 

To  All  Xian  People  to  whom  this  present  Writeing  Shall  Come,  The  Mayor,  Aldermen 
and  Commonalty  of  the  Citty  of  New  Yorke,  Send  greeting  Know  Yee  that  for  and  in  consid- 
eration of  the  sume  of  five  and  thirty  pounds,  twelve  shillings  and  six  pence  curr'  money  to  the 
said  Mayor,  Aldermen  and  Commonalty  in  hand  paid  at  and  before  the  ensealing  and  delivery 
hereof  by  Anna  Maria  Van  Home,  widdow,  the  receipt  whereof  the  said  Mayor,  Aldermen 
and  Commonalty  doe  hereby  acknowledge  and  thereof  and  of  every  part  and  parcell  thereof, 
doe  for  themselves  and  their  successors  fully  and  absolutely  acquite,  exonerate  &  discharge,  the 
said  Anna  Maria  van  horn,  her  heires  and  assignes  forever  by  these  presents,  they  the  said 
Mayor,  Aldermen  and  Commonalty  of  the  Citty  of  New  Yorke  aforesaid  Have  granted, 
bargained,  sold  released  and  confirmed,  and  by  these  presents  doe  for  them  and  their  successors 
grant,  bargaine  and  sell  release  and  confirme  unto  the  said  Anna  Maria  Vanhorne  All  that  Lott 
or  Toft  of  ground,  situate,  lyeing  and  being  within  the  Citty  of  New  Yorke  aforesaid  in  or 
neare  the  Dock,  bounded  on  the  West  by  the  Lott  of  Hendrick  phillips,  on  the  North  to  the 
reare  of  the  lott's  formerly  bought  of  the  Citty,  on  the  East  by  the  lott  of  Capt.  John  de 
Browne,  on  the  South  by  the  Dock  or  Rivver  containing  in  length  five  and  twenty  foot  and  in 
bredth,  eight  and  twenty  foot  and  a  halfe  all  English  measure,  as  the  same  is  surveyed  and 
staked  out  by  the  sworne  surveyors  of  the  said  Citty,  Together  with  all  proffitts,  commodities 
and  appurtenances  whatsoever  to  the  same  belonging  or  in  any  wise  appertaining,  and  all  the 
estate,  right,  title,  interest,  reversion,  remainder,  claime  and  demand  whatsoever,  of  them  the 
said  Mayor,  Aldermen  and  Commonalty,  of  into  or  out  of  the  same,  or  any  part  thereof.  To 
Have  And  To  Hold  the  said  lott  or  toft  of  ground  and  premises  with  its  appurtenances  unto 
the  said  Anna  Maria  Van  home  her  heirs  and  assignes  for  Ever,  Yielding  and  paying  therefore 
yearly  and  every  year  unto  the  said  Mayor,  Aldermen  and  Commonalty,  and  their  successors 
on  every  five  and  twentieth  day  of.  March,  the  rent  of  one  pe  per  corne,  if  the  same  be  lawfully 
demanded,  and  the  said  Anna  Maria  van  home  doth  covenant  and  agree  with  the  said  Mayor, 
Aldermen  and  Commonaltv,  that  whensoever  she  shall  erect  any  buildings  upon  the  said  lott,  she 
shall  build  in  manner  and  forme  following  (that  is  to  say)  all  her  buildings  on  said  lott  shall  be 
two  whole  stories  high  and  the  gabell  end  to  be  of  brick  or  stone,  and  if  otherwise  built  it  shall 
and  may  be  lawfull  for  the  Mayor,  Aldermen  and  Commonality  to  demolish  and  pull  downe  the 
same.  And  further  it  is  covenanted  and  agreed  upon,  that  the  said  Anna  Maria  van  home 
shall  at  her  propper  cost  and  charge,  build  a  good  and  substantial!  street,  twenty-five  foot  broad, 
the  wall  to  bee  of  stone  three  foot  and  one-halfe  broad  at  the  bottome  to  batter  one  foot  inward 
on  the  outside  and  to  defend  the  same  from  rubbing  of  Boats  by  driving  of  piles  or  stockadoes 
five  foot  distance  one  from  the  other  of  seaven  inches  diameter,  and  bound  together  with  a  plate 
at  the  top  which  being  once  so  built  and  finished  to  the  likeing  and  approbation  of  the  surveyor 
from  that  time  forwards  it  shall  be  kept  and  maintained  in  repair  att  the  sole  cost  and  charge  of 

72 


Plate  XXIX 


Appendix    B 

the  Citty  the  same  being  to  remaine  for  the  use  of  the  Citty  and  the  said  Anna  Maria  van  home 
not  to  claime  any  profitt  or  benefitt  thereby  or  right  thereunto,  and  the  said  Anna  Maria  van  Home 
doth  covenant  and  agree  to  use  the  Dock  mudd  twenty  foot  into  the  said  docic  for  filling  up  the 
said  lott,  and  that  the  said  wharfe  and  street  and  wall  shall  be  finished  and  compleated  by  the 
twenty-eighth  day  of  January  next  ensueing  the  date  hereof,  and  the  said  Anna  Maria  van  hoorne 
in  building  and  filling  up  the  said  wall  and  street  is  hereby  oblidged  to  follow  the  directions  of 
the  sworne  surveyors,  and  the  said  Mayor,  Aldermen  and  Commonalty,  in  consideration  of  the 
afore  recited  covenants  in  bchalfe  of  themselves  and  their  successors,  doth  further  covenant  and 
agree  to  and  with  the  said  Anna  Maria  van  home,  her  heires  and  assignes  that  in  front  of  the  said 
lott  or  toft  of  ground  sold  and  conveyed,  as  aforesaid,  no  buildings  whatsoever  shall  at  any  time 
hereafter  be  built  or  erected  by  them,  the  said  Mayor,  Aldermen  and  Commonalty,  and  their 
successors,  or  any  other  prson  by.  from  or  under  them. 

In  Wittnesse  whereof  the  said  Mayor,  Aldermen  and  Commonalty  of  the  Citty  of  New 
York  have  caused  the  Common  Seale  of  the  said  Citty  to  be  hereunto  affixed,  and  these  presents 
to  be  signed  by  the  Mayor  of  the  said  Citty  this  21st  day  of  Aprill  in  the  fourth  yeare  of  tjie 
Reigne  of  our  Sovereigne  Lord  and  Lady  William  and  Mary  by  the  Grace  of  God,  King  and 
Queen  over  England  &c  and  in  the  yeare  of  our  lord.  One  thousand  Six  hundred  ninty  &  two. 

A.  D.  Peyster 

,  — ' —  Mayor 

J    LS 


\ 


Recorded  in  the  Records  for  the  Citty  and  County 
of  New  York  the  21st  day  of  Aprill  A.D.   1692 
H.  J.  Nicholls 

The  above  ]  ^  ^  p  ^ocus  sigi/Ii,  indicates  the  place  of  the  Seal 
impression  shown  in  Plate  XXIX,  which  seems,  with  scarcely  a  doubt, 
to  have  been  made  by  the  same  die  as  impression  No.  5,  Paulding  Seals, 
Plate  XXVI,  p.  63. 

The  original  deed,  from  which  the  foregoing  copy  was  taken,  is  also 
in  the  possession  of  The   Title  Guarantee  and  Trust  Company. 


73 


APPENDIX   C 

Att  a  Common  Council  held  at  the  City  Hail  of  the  said  City  on 
Tuesday  the  22"!  day  of  July  Anno  Dom  1735 
[Vol.  IV.  359    MSS.  Minutes]  Present — Paul  Richard  Esq''  Mayor 

Daniel  Horsmanden  Esq'  Recorder 


M''  Mayor  having  Consented  to  deliver  the  seal  of  this  Corporation  to  the  Common 
Clerk  of  this  Corporation  for  the  use  of  the  Said  Corporation,  it  is  Ordered  that  A  Seal  be 
forthwith  made  and  delivered  to  M"'  Mayor  ;  which  Seal  is  to  be  Called  the  Seal  of  the  Office 
of  Mayorality  of  the  City  of  New  York,  that  the  Said  Seal  be  Round  something  larger  than  a 
Dollar,  the  City  Arms  to  be  Engraved  thereon,  and  that  the  Motto  be  (City  of  New  York 
Seal  of  Mayorality)  and  that  M''  Le  Roux  make  the  same  with  all  Expedition, 

Att  a  Common   Council  held  at  the  City  Hall  of  the  said  City  on 
Tuesday  the  sixteenth  day  of  September  Anno  Dom  1735. 
[Vol.  IV.  362]  Present — Paul  Richard  Esq'  Mayor 

Gerrardus  Stuyvesant  Esq'  Deputy  Mayor 
Daniel  Horsmanden  Esq'  Recorder. 


Ordered  the  Mayor  Issue  his  Warrant  to  the  Treasurer  to  pay  to  M'  Charles  Le  Roux 
Goldsmith  or  Order  the  sum  of  five  pounds  Nine  shillings  and  three  pence  Current  Money  of 
this  Colony  in  full  of  his  Ace'  for  Plate  and  making  the  seal  of  the  Mayoralty  of  this  Corporation 
as  appears  by  his  Ace'  which  is  Audited  and  allowed. 

Att  a  Common  Council  held  at  the  City  Hall  of  the  Said  City  on 
Tuesday  the  fourth  day  of  November  Anno  Dom  1735 
[p.  376.]  Present — Paul  Richard  ESq'  Mayor. 

Daniel  Horsmanden  ESq'  Recorder. 


A  Law  declaring,  to  what  Uses  the  Seal  of  this  Corporation,  the  Seal  of 
the   Mayor's  Court  and  the  Seal  of  the   Mayoralty  of  this  City  shall  be  put  unto. 

Be  it  Ordained  by  the  Mayor,  Recorder  Aldermen  and  Assistants  of  the  City  of 
New  York,  convened  in  Common  Council  and  it  is  hereby  Ordained  by  the  Authority  of  the 
Same.  That  the  Common  Seal  of  this  Corporation,  commonly  Called  the  City  Seal  (now  in 
the  Custody  and  Keeping  of  the  Common  Clerk  of  this  Corporation);  shall  not  be  put,  and 
affixed  to  any  Writing  or  Instrument  whatsoever.  Except  unto  such  Grants,  Leases,  Freedoms 
Warrants,   Lycences,   or  Other  Instruments,   as   shall   Concern    this  Corporation   in  Point  of 

74 


Appendix    C 

Interest,  or  Otherwise,  and  that  by  Order  of  the  Common  Council  of  the  said  City,  in 
Common  Council,  convened  or  unto  Freedoms,  by  Order  of  the  Mayor's  Court  of  the  said 
City;  any  Usage  heretofore  to  the  Contrary  Notwithstanding. 

And  it  is  Further  Ordained  by  the  Authority  aforesaid  That  the  small  Seal,  (also  in 
the  Custody  and  Keeping  of  the  Common  Clerk  of  this  Corporation),  commonly  called  the 
Seal  of  the  Mayor's  Court,  be  put  unto  all  Process,  issuing  out  of  the  Mayor's  Court  of  the 
said  City,  and  Court  of  General  Sessions  of  the  Peace  for  the  City  and  County  of  New  York, 
Warrants  and  Testimonials ;  and  that  all  Lycenscs,  granted  to  Carmen,  Alehouse  Keepers, 
Tavern  Keepers  or  Victuallers,  within  this  City,  be  Sealed  with  the  same  Seal  ;  and  that  the 
said  Seal  be  used  to  no  Other  Intents  or  purposes  whatsoever. 

And  be  it  further  Ordained  by  the  Authority  aforesaid  That  the  Seal  belonging  to  this 
Corporation,  (now  in  the  Custody  and  Keeping  of  the  Mayor  of  this  Corporation)  called  the 
Seal  of  Mayoralty,  may,  by  the  said  Mayor,  or  the  Mayor  of  this  City,  for  the  time  being,  or 
by  the  Mayor,  and  Court  of  Aldermen  of  the  same  City,  for  the  time  being,  be  put  and  affixed 
to  all  such  Writings  And  Instruments,  Depositions,  Affidavits,  Exemplifications,  Testimonials 
Protests  and  other  Matters  and  Things,  as  are  usual  and  Customary  to  be  Certified,  under  the 
publick  Seal  of  any  Mayoralty,  for  the  better  Attesting  of  the  Truth  of  the  Matters  and  Things, 
thereby  Certified  ;  and  that  the  said  Seal  be  always  in  the  Keeping  and  Custody  of  the  Mayor 
of  this  Corporation,  for  the  time  being. 


75 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

John  Romeyn  Brodhead,  History  of  the  State  of  New  York.    Harper  &  Bros.     2  vols.     (N.  Y. 
Hist.  Soc,  or  N.  Y.  Pub.  Lib.) 

Emmet  Collection.      (N.  Y.  Pub.  Lib.) 

Henrv  A.  Holmes,   The  Correct  Arms  of  the  State  of  New  York.      1879-82.      (N.  Y.  Hist. 
Soc,  or  N.  Y.  Pub.  Lib.) 

Edgar  A.    Harner,    Civil  List  New  York.      1889-91.      (N.  Y.    Hist.   Soc,  or  N.  Y.   Pub. 
Lib.) 

Casparus  Commelin,  Beschryvinge  van  Amsterdam,      t' Amsterdam.      '693.      2  vols.      (N.  Y. 
Hist.  Soc.) 

Francois  Halma,  Toneel  der  Vreenigde  Nederlandett.     1/2^.     2  vols.      (N.  Y.  Hist.  Soc.  Lib.) 

Motley,   The  Rise  of  the  Dutch  Republic.      Ed.  used  herein,  Thomas  Y.  Crovvell  &  Co.,  N.  Y. 
1 90 1. 

Frederic  Harrison,  William  the  Silent.      Ed.  used  herein,  Macmillan  &  Co.      1907. 

E.  B.  O'Callaghan,  Edited  by.  The  Documentary  History  of  the  State  of  New  York. 

jean  Le  Clerc,  Histoire  des  Provinces-Unies  Des  Pays-Bas.  4  vols.  Amsterdam.  1728. 
(N.  Y.  Pub.  Lib.      Shelf  mark  5^.) 

Pierre  Bizot,    Medalische  Histoire  Der  Republyk  van  Holland,  t^ Amsterdam.     1690.      (Rutgers 

Col.  Lib.) 
Pierre  Bizot.      Same  in  French.      1688.      (N.  Y.  Pub.  Lib.)      Shelf  mark  MHV. 

Gerard  van  Loon,  Histoire  Metallique  des  XVII  Provinces  des  Pays-Bas.  5  vols.  A  La 
Haye.      (N.  Y.  Pub.  Lib.      Shelf  mark  »^.) 

L.    Forrer,  Biographical  Dictionary  of  Medallists.      1902. 

The  New  International  Encyclopaedia.      \.    483. 

Henrv  A.  Holmes,  The  Correct  Arms  of  the  State  of  New  York.  (N.  Y.  Hist.  Soc,  or 
N.  Y.  Pub.  Lib.) 

Berthold  Fernovv,  The  Records  of  New  Amsterdam.     New  York.     Knickerbocker  Press.     1897. 

Journals  of  the  Provincial  Congress,  Provincial  Convention,  Committee  of  Safety,  and  Council 
of  Safety  of  the  State  of  New  York.  1775-1776-1777.  2  vols.  Albanv.  1842. 
(N.  Y.  Hist.  Soc,  or  N.  Y.  Pub.  Lib.) 

Documents  Relating  to  the  Colonial  Histors  of  the  State  of  New  York.  John  Romeyn  Brodhead. 
1856-61.      (N.  Y.  Hist.  Soc,  or  N.  Y.  Pub.  Lib.) 

Gerard  van  Loon,  Beschryving  Der  Nederlandsche  Historipenningen.  In's  Graavenhaage. 
1723-1731.      4  vols.      (N.  Y.  Pub.  Lib.,  Stuart  1161.) 

Ludovic  Lalanne.      Dictionnaire    Historique  De  La  France. 


76 


NOTE 

In  order  to  furnish    the    best    evidence    regarding    Plates   I    to   IX 

inclusive,  the  following  correspondence  is  transcribed.     This  will  serve 

to  set  at  rest  the   various   conjectures  of  some  American   writers  upon 

this  subject. 

"Amsterdam,  Aug"  13th,  1909. 
Mr.    Edw.   S.    Wilde, 

Dover,   New  Jersey, 

U.  S.  A. 
Dear  Sir: 

In  reply  to  your  letter  of  July  30th,  I  beg  to  inform  you  that  I  have  sent  this  letter  to 
the  Archivist  of  the  State,  at  the  Hague,  Jhr.  Mr.  Th.  H.  F.  van  Riemsdijk,  because  the 
questions  vou  proposed  are  almost  all  relative  to  the  archives  ot  the  VV.  I.  Company  and  of  the 
Kingdom.      Only  with  regard  to  the  arms  of  Amsterdam  I  can  give  you  some  information. 

Enclosed  I  send  you  a  copy  of  the  arms  as  they  now  are  borne  by  our  city  after  the 

revision  of  1898 Indeed,  on  February  i  ith,  1489,  Maximilian,  the  Roman  King,  has 

given  to  Amsterdam  a  crown.  The  charter  says:"de  crone  van  onsen  rvcke,"  i.e.,  "the 
crown  of  our  realm."  This  is  always  so  understood,  that  after  that  Maximilian,  on  Febr.  4th, 
1508,  had  assumed  the  title  of  an  elected  Roman  Emperor  with  the  insignia  imperialia,  it  was 
also  allowed  to  the  city  of  Amsterdam  to  bear  the  crown  of  his  realm,  i.e.,  the  crown  of  the 
Empire.  Always  since,  the  crown  has  been  considered  as  an  imperial  one.  That  which  now 
is  used,  is  the  Rudoiphinian — type  of  1602. 

You  are  right — the  black  pale  on  the  red  shield  does  not  conform  to  the  rule  that  it  is 
inadmissible  to  place  color  upon  color.  But  it  is  just  as  you  observed:  "  time  has  given  sanctity 
to  the  use." 

Some  more  information  about  the  arms  of  Amsterdam  you  may  find  in  :  Mr.  W.  R.  Veder, 
"  De  herziene  officieele  voorstelling  van  het  wapen  van  Amsterdam." — Amsterdam,  S,  L.  van 
Looy,  1900. 

Mr.  W.  R.   Veder,  the  archivist,  being  on  leave, 

I  am  truly  yours 

JoH.    C.    Breen, 

Adj.  Archivist." 


77 


"The  Hague,  September  z,  1909. 
Dear  Sir  : 

A  few  weeks  ago  Dr.  W.  R.  Veder,  the  city-archmst  of  Amsterdam,  requested  me  to 
let  you  know : 

I  °  what  the  colours  were  of  the  coat  of  arms  granted  to  the  province  of  New  Nether- 
land  by  the  States  General ; 

2?  what  the  colours  were  of  the  coat  of  arms  granted  to  New  Amsterdam  by  the 
Amsterdam  Chamber  of  the  West  India  Company  in  1654  ; 

3?  if  the  colours  of  the  coat  of  arms  of  Prince  William  the  Silent  as  given  in  Ter  Gouw, 
Studien  over  Wapen-  en  Zegelkunde,  are  correct ; 

4?  what  the  colours  of  our  national  flag  were  during  the  period  of  1623-1664. 

In  answer  to  these  questions  I  beg  to  reply : 

I  °  that  I  have  been  unable  to  find  the  resolution  by  which  the  States  General  granted  the 
coat  of  arms  to  New  Netherland.  In  the  "  Naerdere  aenwijsinghe  ende  observation  op  het 
request  aen  de  Doorluchtige  Hooge  ende  Mogende  Heeren  Staten-Generael  der  Vereenigde 
Nederlanden  onse  Hoochloffelijcke  Souverainen,  geschreven  26  Julij  deses  jaers  onses  Heeren 
Jesu  Christi  1649  in  Nieu  Amsterdam"  it  is  stated  that  New  Netherland  is  called  a  province 
because  the  High  and  Mighty  Lords  the  States  General  have  given  it  a  count's  coat  of  arms 
("  Het  wert  een  provincie  genoemt  omdat  het  van  Haer  Ho.  Mo.  met  een  graefflijck  wapen 
is  vereert  "  )  ; 

2"  that  the  minutes,  or  Notulen,  of  the  Amsterdam  Chamber  of  the  W.  I.  Company 
of  the  year  1654  ^""^  \o&\.,  so  that  it  is  impossible  to  know  exactly  what  seal  was  granted  by  it ; 

3  ?  that  the  best  book  on  the  armorial  bearings  of  the  House  of  Nassau,  so  far  as  I  am 
aware,  was  written  by  H.  von  Goeckingk:  "  Geschichte  des  Nassauischen  Wappens"  (Gorlitz, 
Verlag  von  C.  A.  Starke,  1880).  Goeckingk  gives  a  picture  of  the  coat  of  arms  of  William 
the  Silent  considerably  diifering  from  the  one  given  in  Ter  Gouw's  book  ; 

4°  that  the  question  of  the  colours  of  our  national  flag  in  various  epochs  of  our  history  is 
carefullv  discussed  by  Mr.  C.  de  Waard  in  his  excellent  book  "  De  Nederlandsche  Vlag" 
(Groningen,  J.  B.  Wolters,  1900).  From  De  Waard's  researches  it  would  follow  that  between 
1572  and  1630  the  colours  of  the  flag  were  orange,  white,  blue;  between  1630  and  1664 
either  orange,  white,  blue  or  red,  white,  blue;  after  1664  always  red,  white,  blue. 

Believe  me,  my  Dear  Sir, 

Very  truly  yours, 

Th.    H.    F.    van   RlEMSDlJK, 

Edward  Seymour  Wilde,  Esq.,  Keeper  of  the  State  Archives. 

Dover,  New  Jersey, 

United  States  of  America, 


78 


Amsterdam   Archives, 

April    ig-'io. 
Dear  Sir: 

You  will  find  enclosed  a  translation  of  the  transport-act,  of  which  you  sent  me  a  photo- 
graphical  reproduction. 

I  tried  to  translate  it  literally,  word  by  word,  as  you  will  see,  but  I  am  not  beyond  doubt 
that  there  will  not  be  any  failure  in  it. 

Perhaps  Mr.  van  Laer,  archivist  in  Albany,  will  be  so  kind  to  make  the  corrections. 

As  to  your  request  concerning  Pieter  van  Abeele,  who  lived  in  the  midst  of  the  1 7th 
century,  I  can  tell  you  that  there  is  uncertainty  about  the  occasion  relating  to  his  medal  represent- 
ing "  the  privilege  of  1342  and  that  of  the  crown  in  1488."  There  are  different  conjectures 
without  sufficient  grounds.  "  The  peace  treaty  of  Munster  in  1648  or  the  inauguration  of  the 
new  City  Hall  in  1655."  Also  there  is  an  opinion  which  will  fix  the  origin  to  a  simple  private 
affair,  viz.:  the  wedlock-celebration  of  Adriaen  van  Loon  and  Cornelia  Hunthum  in  1656. 

I  never  saw  before  that  seal  with  the  beaver:  very  interesting! 

Believe  me.  Dear  Sir, 

faithfully  yours, 

W.  R.  Veder, 

Archivist. 
Edward  S.  Wilde,  Esq., 

Dover, 

New  Jersey, 

U.  S.  America. 


79 


^  I  '^HE  purpose  of  this  work  has  been  to 
-^  place  in  the  hands  of  the  reader,  with  the 
least  possible  detail,  a  recital  of  the  facts  and 
principles  as  indicated  in  the  opening  paragraph. 
In  whatever  respect  he  may  have  fallen  short 
of  this  purpose,  the  writer  begs  indulgence. 


